Ask Which Care Category the Agency Is In, Then Check the Record for That Category

The first verification question is what kind of service the agency provides, because home health and non-medical home care are kept in different public records.

Verification questions · October 30, 2026

Agencies in the St. Louis area do not all sell the same service. Some provide home health, which is a Medicare-certified service with its own federal file. Others provide non-medical home care, which sits in a different category with different records. Before a family compares two agencies, it should ask each one which category it says it is in, then check the record for that category. A mismatch between the answer and the file is the first thing to write down.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Questions to put to the agency. Ask which category of service the agency provides, in its own words. Ask whether it holds a Medicare-certified file, and if so, which counties that file covers. Ask which public files it expects a family to look up, and ask for that list in writing. Ask who in the office answers questions about those files. Ask how often the agency's own list of services is brought up to date.

What to write down. Keep one line for each answer: what the agency said, which file it pointed to, and whether the file matched what was said. A mismatch is not proof of a problem, but it is a reason to ask the agency to explain before the family goes further.

Open the right record. Once the category is clear, the family knows which record to open and which lookups apply. The guide to the federal lookups walks through the steps, and the notes on home health and home care explain why the two categories are not interchangeable.

What the answers do not settle. A matching file does not show that a particular aide will suit the household, and it does not show how the agency handles a missed visit. Those belong to the tour, the trial visit, and the written agreement, not to the public record.

How to check any home health agency in five federal lookups

Home health versus non-medical home care: which record to check

Home health and home care in Missouri are two different categories

Checked the records? Now talk to a person.

Tell us what you found and what you still need to know. New Plan Care Solutions provides non-medical support at home; it is not a Medicare-certified home health agency, and it will say plainly what it can and cannot do.

New Plan Care Solutions is independently owned and operated in St. Louis by Stacie Postol. Non-medical in-home support for St. Louis and St. Charles counties: personal care and daily routines, companionship, homemaking, respite for family caregivers, and day-to-day help while recovering at home. Short-term, overnight, 24-hour and live-in care with no long-term contract. Fully insured, with background-checked caregivers screened through the Family Care Safety Registry. Care visits start at $136 (a four-hour visit at $34 an hour). Every family starts with a complimentary in-home care consultation and up to 2 hours of care observation: no cost, no obligation.

The guides on this site are educational, not medical advice.