Paying for home care in Englewood, CO: rates, insurance, VA programs, and what is free

What a week of home care actually costs

Start with our numbers, because they are the clearest ones available. $43 an hour in the Denver metro, which includes Englewood, with a three-hour minimum per visit, so the smallest visit is $129. Live-in care is a flat $650 a day. Families most often compare that daily rate against the cost of a missed shift at work, a home health aide, or a family member cutting their own hours.

Two or three visits a week adds up faster than most people expect, which is why the conversation about long-term care insurance tends to go better before a bad month than after one.

The hourly rate covers the work: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meal preparation, light housekeeping, errands and rides, plus the travel time our caregivers spend moving between homes in Englewood. It does not cover medical care of any kind. Families sometimes expect a home care rate to include wound care or medication administration, and we would rather say no now than disappoint someone later in a home health meeting.

Ask for a written estimate for the schedule you actually have in mind rather than a range that could move. An Englewood family scheduling four three-hour visits a week is looking at a number it can put on a spreadsheet, and a number it can take to a bank.

One thing we will not do is promise that a policy will pay. Policies differ, benefits differ, and we would rather tell a family exactly what we know than what they want to hear.

Long-term care insurance: read the policy, do not guess

Long-term care insurance policies do not all work the same way. Some pay a set dollar amount per day, some pay a percentage of a daily benefit up to a cap, and many carry waiting periods, benefit periods, and their own definitions of what counts as an eligible service. We help families use long-term care insurance: we fill out the paperwork they need, explain what a visit looks like on paper, and tell them when a question belongs to their own insurer rather than to us.

Reading a policy is less confusing if you know the four words to look for: the daily benefit, the benefit period, the waiting period, and the definition of an eligible service. A policy can pay generously for home care and still exclude particular tasks, and a family that asks about the definition in advance will not be surprised by a claim that did not get paid. When you call the insurer, have the schedule ready: the days, the hours, and what the caregiver will actually be doing.

SHIP is the free place to start with Medicare and insurance questions. The Area Agency on Aging's Aging and Disability Resource Center serves adults 60 and older and adults with disabilities, and its services, including SHIP Medicare help, Options Counseling, Case Management, Information and Assistance, and the Network of Care, are free. Anyone may refer someone, including a doctor or a neighbor. The number is 303-480-6700.

Veterans: community care and a program built for home

Colorado CareAssist participates in the VA Community Care Network, which lets eligible veterans arrange home care through the VA's own process rather than waiting on an in-house service. The VA Eastern Colorado health care system's medical center is at 1700 North Wheeling Street, Aurora, CO 80045-7211, and its community care staff can walk a veteran through the referral.

There is also a program built exactly for this. DRCOG's Veteran Directed Care supports eligible veterans of any age to remain in their communities and homes while receiving assistance with daily activities such as dressing, bathing, and preparing and eating meals. It runs through the Area Agency on Aging, whose direct lines are 303-480-6734 for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, 303-480-6704 for Case Management, 303-480-6835 for SHIP, 303-480-6838 for Medicaid Transition Services Options Counseling, and 303-480-6755 for the Veteran Directed Care Program. Confirm the numbers when you call.

Veterans get more from the city than most of them realize. Englewood's veteran discount program includes a free Malley Social Pass, 15 percent off punch passes and classes at the Englewood Recreation Center, reduced resident admission to Pirates Cove, and a free round of golf, green fee only, at Broken Tee Golf Course on Veteran's Day with a valid military ID; check the current terms before you count on them. The same program lists Patriot Golf Days over the Memorial Day weekend and a Heroic Golf Marathon on Labor Day.

Programs that cost nothing, or close to it

Not every dollar of care has to come from a family. Volunteers of America's Meals on Wheels covers Arapahoe County and requires recipients to be 60 or older. There is no charge for the meals, recipients are asked to contribute what they can afford, and no one is turned away for being unable to pay. To check eligibility in Arapahoe County, call 303-294-0111 or email [email protected], and confirm the intake details when you reach them.

Health plans can pay for the recreation that keeps a person strong. The Englewood and Malley Recreation Centers honor the SilverSneakers and Renew Active insurance programs, which members use for free fitness, swim classes and other activities; check the current terms with the city before you plan around them.

At Malley Recreation Center on S. Lincoln St., phone 303-762-2660, the Active Adult pass structure for members 55 and older runs from a Social Pass through Monthly, Premier and Platinum tiers, and the Platinum pass is listed as free for residents and non-residents 83 and older. Check current fees before you buy, and note that resident rates require a Resident ID card. For a family with a parent who is 83, that is a small line item that quietly covers a good part of the year.

The door to start with

DRCOG is the designated Area Agency on Aging for Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson and Gilpin counties, with more than 50 years in the role, which puts Englewood under an agency that has been doing this work for more than half a century. Its counselors do not sell anything. They map the options: what the county pays for, what an insurance policy pays for, what the family pays for, and how much each of those takes.

Before that conversation, write down the private-pay number you can actually afford per month, and the number you can stretch to. It makes the conversation concrete, and it makes the answer useful. If a county program or a policy benefit covers part of it, the family often has more room than they thought.

Bring three things to that first call: the date care became necessary or the date of the last hospital stay, the name of the doctor, and a rough idea of how many hours a week the person needs. With those, a counselor can usually tell a family which programs apply and which questions to take to an insurer, in one conversation instead of six.

And if the arithmetic does not work, that is worth knowing early enough to plan around. Colorado CareAssist will walk a family through the rate, the minimum and the options with no obligation, on a free 20-minute call and a free in-home assessment at the home or by video. Call (303) 757-1777 and a real person answers.

Local resources in Englewood

• DRCOG is the designated Area Agency on Aging for Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson and Gilpin counties, with more than 50 years in the role; Arapahoe County contains Englewood. Source
• DRCOG's Aging & Disability Resource Center serves adults 60+ and adults with disabilities, and its services, including SHIP Medicare help, Options Counseling, Case Management, Information & Assistance and the Network of Care, are free; anyone may refer by calling 303-480-6700. Source
• The Area Agency on Aging lists direct lines for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman (303-480-6734), Case Management (303-480-6704), SHIP (303-480-6835), Medicaid Transition Services Options Counseling (303-480-6838) and the Veteran Directed Care Program (303-480-6755); confirm the numbers when you call. Source
• DRCOG's Veteran Directed Care supports eligible veterans of any age to remain in their communities and homes while receiving assistance with daily activities such as dressing, bathing, and preparing and eating meals. Source
• The VA Eastern Colorado health care system's medical center is at 1700 North Wheeling Street, Aurora, CO 80045-7211. Source
• The City of Englewood's veterans discounts include a free Malley Social Pass, 15 percent off punch passes and classes at the Englewood Recreation Center, reduced resident admission to Pirates Cove, and a free round of golf, green fee only, at Broken Tee Golf Course on Veteran's Day with a valid military ID; check current terms. Source
• Volunteers of America's Meals on Wheels serves Arapahoe County, requires recipients to be 60 or older, and has no charge for the meals; to check eligibility in Arapahoe County call 303-294-0111 or email [email protected], and confirm the intake details. Source
• Englewood's and Malley's recreation centers honor the SilverSneakers and Renew Active insurance programs for free fitness, swim classes and other activities; check current terms with the city. Source
• Malley Center's Active Adult (55+) passes include Social, Monthly, Premier and Platinum tiers, with the Platinum pass listed as free for residents and non-residents 83 and older; check current fees, and note resident rates require a Resident ID card. Source

More resources for Englewood families

• Dementia Care at Home in Englewood, CO
• Respite Care for Family Caregivers in Englewood
• Home Care After a Hospital Stay in Englewood
• How to Choose a Home Care Agency in Englewood