Home care · Union County, PA
Home care in Union County
Union County is home to about 43,000 people, 8,140 of them 65 or older, spread across a county that is 63.2% rural. Distance is the quiet problem here: the adult child two towns over, the appointment an hour each way, the caregiver who has to drive it.
Below is what we'd tell a friend in Union County: what care costs here, who provides it, what the facility alternative actually looks like, and which programs pay.
Union County, in numbers
Full Pennsylvania guide →Residents 65+
8,138
19% of the county.
Live with a disability
13.5%
About 5,177 people — the population most likely to need help at home.
Median household income
$65,521
20 hrs/week of care would run about 54% of it.
Certified agencies
14
Medicare-certified home health agencies serving local ZIPs; 9 rated, averaging 2.9★.
Sources: CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index 2022 (ACS 2018–2022), County Health Rankings 2024, and CMS Care Compare provider files.
What home care costs in Union County
Pennsylvania's going rate for agency home care is around $34/hr. Twenty hours a week — four hours a day, five days a week, the most common schedule families start with — comes to roughly $2,900 a month, or $35,400 a year.
Median household income in Union County is $65,521 — that schedule runs about 54% of it. Manageable for some households here, and still worth checking whether a program can carry part of it.
Who provides care in Union County
14 Medicare-certified home health agencies serve ZIP codes in Union County. 9 of them carry a CMS quality star rating, averaging 2.9 out of 5. 12 report offering home health aide services.
That is below the Pennsylvania average of 3.32, and below the national average of 3.25. It does not mean good care isn't available here — it means the spread matters, and looking up a specific agency on Medicare's Care Compare before you sign is worth the ten minutes.
One distinction worth getting straight before you call anyone: those are Medicare-certified home health agencies — skilled, doctor-ordered, intermittent care, usually a nurse or therapist visiting for a few weeks after a hospital stay. That is not the same as the hourly, non-medical help most families are actually looking for: bathing, dressing, meals, driving, company. Medicare pays for the first. It does not pay for the second.
The alternative, locally
Union County has 3 certified nursing homes holding 385 certified beds, averaging 3 out of 5 on CMS's overall rating. About 232 people live in them on an average day.
The Pennsylvania programs that pay for care at home
- Community HealthChoices (CHC)
- Services My Way
Pennsylvania runs 2 Medicaid pathways that pay for care at home instead of a nursing home. Each has its own income, asset, and care-need rules, and approval takes weeks to months — so the application is worth starting before the need becomes urgent.
How each Pennsylvania program works →Caregiver training in PA
75 hrs
Minimum for certified aides (the federal minimum). Agencies are licensed by the PA Dept. of Health.
Choosing an agency in Union County
- Ask for the license. Pennsylvania licenses home care agencies through the PA Dept. of Health. A legitimate agency shows its license without hesitating. One that changes the subject has told you something.
- Ask what the rate covers. Around $34/hr is typical in Pennsylvania. A real agency's rate covers a trained, background-checked, insured caregiver plus supervision and backup staffing when your regular person is sick. A rate well under the local range usually means one of those is missing.
- Start the clock early. Union County is served by 14 certified agencies, so the honest answer to "when can you start?" is often two to three weeks. If you're planning around a discharge date, call before the discharge, not after.
- Ask about Medicaid now, not later. If money is going to be the constraint, ask about Community HealthChoices at the first call. Approval takes weeks to months, and private pay is what bridges the gap — so the sooner the application starts, the smaller that bridge is.
Want to talk it through?
We provide care in the Milwaukee, WI area — but we’re glad to help any family think through the options in Union County.
Union County home care questions, answered
How much does home care cost in Union County, PA?
Agency home care in Pennsylvania runs around $34/hr for private pay. At 20 hours a week that is about $2,900 a month. For context, median household income in Union County is $65,521. Rates move with the level of care and the schedule — short daily visits cost more per hour than long shifts.
Does Medicare pay for home care in Union County?
Medicare pays for skilled home health — a nurse or therapist, doctor-ordered, for a limited stretch, usually after a hospital stay. 14 Medicare-certified agencies serve Union County. Medicare does not pay for the hourly, non-medical help most families want — bathing, dressing, meals, driving, company. For that, the money comes from private pay, long-term care insurance, VA benefits, or Pennsylvania Medicaid.
Does Medicaid pay for home care in Union County?
Yes — for people who qualify. Pennsylvania runs Medicaid programs that pay for care at home instead of a nursing home: Community HealthChoices (CHC), Services My Way. Income, asset, and care-need rules apply, and approval usually takes weeks to months, so apply before you need it.
How are caregivers trained and vetted in Pennsylvania?
Certified home health aides in Pennsylvania complete at least 75 hours of training, the federal minimum. The state licenses home care agencies through the PA Dept. of Health, so ask to see an agency's license before you hire.
Is home care better than a nursing home in Union County?
It depends on the level of care needed, not on which one sounds nicer. Union County's 3 certified facilities average 3 out of 5 stars on CMS ratings, against a Pennsylvania average of 2.97. Round-the-clock skilled nursing is something a facility does that home care cannot. But for help with bathing, meals, medication reminders, and company, care at home usually costs less and keeps someone in their own bed — and most people, asked plainly, say that is what they want.
Does Juniper at Home provide caregivers in Union County?
Not directly — our own caregivers serve the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin. This page is a free guide for Union County families: what care really costs here, who provides it, and which programs can help pay.
Bordering counties in Pennsylvania