A doctor says the words “home health,” and most families have no idea what comes next. Does Medicare pay for it? Does someone come every day? Can you choose who walks through the door? The answers depend on the person’s care needs, Medicare eligibility, and the agency providing services, and those differences matter more than most families realize until they’re already navigating a difficult situation.
Medicare may cover eligible home health services, including intermittent skilled nursing, physical therapy, and other services ordered under a qualifying care plan. It doesn’t generally cover ongoing personal care or companionship when that’s the only help someone needs. Private duty home care is different: families typically pay for hourly assistance themselves. Several agencies serving South Florida offer both, which is worth knowing before you start comparing. Here are five worth putting on your list.
Best for Combined Medicare and Private Duty Care in One Agency – Health at Home
Health at Home runs a full continuum of home care across Palm Beach, Broward, Martin, St. Lucie, and Indian River counties, with branches in Boynton Beach and Port St. Lucie. It’s Medicare-certified, so skilled nursing, therapy, and other home health services ordered by a physician are covered the way Medicare intends, and the agency also handles private duty hourly care for families who need help that falls outside Medicare’s rules.
It’s also ACHC accredited for both home health and private duty services, which means the agency has been reviewed against nationally recognized standards for quality and safety across both service lines. That may be helpful if a family starts with private duty support after a hospital stay and later needs Medicare-covered skilled nursing, since the same agency may be able to coordinate both types of care. Medicare coverage still depends on eligibility and the services included in the care plan.
Caregivers are hired directly as employees rather than pulled from an independent contractor registry, which keeps training, background checks, and supervision under one roof. The agency has also collected 200+ five-star reviews on Google, a volume that gives new families something to check before they ever pick up the phone. For families weighing whether it’s time to have the senior care conversation, having one agency that can flex between Medicare home health and paid hourly care simplifies a decision that’s already hard enough.
Best for Long-Established Local Home Health Care – Health Care of South Florida
Health Care of South Florida has been offering home care in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties since 2005, which puts over two decades of operating history behind its license. It’s CHAP-accredited and licensed by the State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, two credentials that cover both quality standards and the basic legal requirement to operate as a home health agency in Florida.
That straightforward pitch suits a family that already knows what home health means and just wants a long-running, credentialed provider in the Miami-Broward corridor rather than a company with multiple service lines to sort through.
Best for Premium Personalized In-Home Senior Care – TheKey
TheKey positions its service around safety, independence, and peace of mind, with care built around personalized plans rather than a one-size approach. It calls itself a premium in-home care provider, which signals a service tier aimed at families who want a higher level of customization in how care gets delivered.
That premium positioning tends to come with a higher price point than a standard hourly rate, which is the natural tradeoff of a brand built around tailoring care to the individual rather than competing purely on cost. It’s a reasonable fit for a family that’s decided personalization matters more to them than finding the cheapest hourly rate available and less of a fit for a family working with a tight monthly budget.
Best for Combined Skilled Nursing and Private Duty Services – Complete Home Care
Complete Home Care is Medicare certified and carries both CHAP and ACHC accreditation along with AHCA licensing, a stacked set of credentials that covers Medicare eligibility, two separate quality accreditations, and the state licensing requirement all at once. It describes its work as spanning home health, skilled nursing, and in-home care for adults and seniors in Florida.
That breadth, home health plus skilled nursing plus private duty, makes it a sensible call for a family whose needs might shift over time, say from a short post-surgery recovery into longer-term support. Families who want help thinking through the dollars-and-cents side of a decision like this might find financial planning guidance for aged care useful background before they start calling agencies.
Best for Caregiver Matching Based on Personal Fit – AstraCare
AstraCare builds its pitch around matching, pairing a family with what it calls the right caregiver for a better life at home. The idea is that the caregiver-family fit itself, not just the task list, shapes whether in-home care actually works day to day. Its site frames the service around supporting seniors’ independence in the comfort of their own home, which is a fairly standard goal across this category, but the matching-first approach is its specific angle.
What Separates Medicare Home Health From Private Duty Care
The biggest point of confusion families run into is assuming “home care” is one single service. It isn’t. Medicare home health can include intermittent skilled nursing, physical therapy, and other covered services when the person meets Medicare’s eligibility requirements and receives care under an approved plan. It may be used after a hospital stay or to help someone recover from an illness or injury, but it isn’t the same as ongoing daily caregiving.
Private duty care is different. It can include hourly help with bathing, dressing, meal preparation, or companionship, and families typically pay for it themselves. The article’s estimated South Florida rates of $30 to $40 per hour, with a four-hour daily minimum, should be verified against a current local source before publication. At those rates, 12 to 20 hours a week would cost roughly $1,560 to $3,470 a month, while 40 hours a week would cost about $5,200 to $6,930 a month, assuming 4.33 weeks per month and no additional fees.
Knowing which category you need before calling agencies can save time and help you ask the right questions. Someone recovering from surgery may qualify for Medicare-covered skilled home health, while a person who mainly needs ongoing assistance with daily activities may need private duty care. Some families need both at different stages, so an agency offering both services may reduce the need to coordinate separate providers. Medicare eligibility and coverage should always be confirmed for the individual’s situation.
Matching the Agency to What Your Family Actually Needs This Year
Start with the medical question before the comparison question: does the person need skilled care ordered by a qualified health care provider, or is the main need steady help with daily activities? That answer narrows the list, since not every agency offers both Medicare-covered home health and private duty care.
Credentials are worth checking, too. ACHC and CHAP accreditation indicate that an agency has been reviewed against recognised quality standards, while Florida licensing is a separate requirement for agencies that need it. A family weighing how to help a parent stay independent at home should also ask who will provide the care, whether caregivers are employees or independent contractors, how they are screened and supervised, and what happens if a regular caregiver is unavailable.
For a family in Southeast Florida that wants Medicare-covered home health and private duty care from the same agency, Health at Home is a strong option to consider. Families should still compare services, availability, costs, and care arrangements before deciding. Those looking for a provider in another region will need to confirm which agencies serve their location.
