Looking up a home care agency by name

How to look up an agency like Friends and Family Home Care or Heart to Heart Home Care

Two of the names people search most are Friends and Family Home Care and Heart to Heart Home Care. We are not affiliated with either, and we don't rate or rank any agency on this page. What we can do is show you the same checks we'd run on any name you were given — checks that take about ten minutes and work for every agency in the country.

1. Find the official license record. Search the agency's name in your state's license lookup (links below). Write down the exact legal name, license number and address.
2. Match it to the agency's own website. The address and phone number on the website should match the state record. If they don't, you may have the wrong company.
3. Check the service type. A non-medical home care agency, a Medicare-certified home health agency and a staffing registry are different things with different rules.
4. Ask whether they take your relative's coverage. Private pay, Medicaid managed long-term care, VA and long-term care insurance are all handled differently.
5. Call the number from the official listing, not one from an ad or a directory site.

That's also the answer when you search something like friends and family home care phone number or always caring home care phone number. We don't publish agency phone numbers, because directory listings go stale and name-alike agencies get mixed up. Take the number from the state listing or the agency's official site.

Searching for a Brooklyn agency like All Heart Home Care or Heart to Heart

Brooklyn searches are some of the most specific we see. People type heart to heart home care brooklyn, all heart home care brooklyn, the all heart homecare agency, community home care brooklyn, always home care brooklyn, advantage home care brooklyn and friends and family home care brooklyn. Some of these names belong to more than one business, and a few differ by a single word.

Before you call anyone, open home care in Brooklyn (Kings County) to see which programs serve the borough, then run the name through the New York license search described below. If you've been told about a heart to heart home care agency or a heart home care agency, confirm which exact legal name you mean — names like From the Heart Home Care and The Heart Home Care are easy to blur on the phone.

Brooklyn families on Medicaid also have a choice many agencies won't mention: under CDPAP in New York, your relative can hire you, a sibling or a friend as their aide instead of a stranger. New York City's CDPAP base wage is the highest in the state.

Bronx, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island searches

Outside Brooklyn, the same pattern repeats. People look for heart to heart home care bronx, special touch staten island and community home care nyc, and often for a name with no borough at all — preferred homecare of new york, link home care, independence home care or people care agency. When a name includes a place, don't assume the business is actually based there; check the address on the license record.

• The Bronx
• Queens
• Manhattan
• Staten Island
• Nassau
• Westchester
• Suffolk

Each county page lists the programs that can pay a family caregiver there. Our full guide to home care in New York explains how Medicaid, managed long-term care plans and private pay fit together across the state.

How to check a New York agency's license: LHCSA vs. CHHA

New York regulates home care agencies in two main groups, and the state's NYS Health Profiles home care search covers both:

Search by name, then by county if the name returns nothing. An agency that doesn't appear at all is a reason to pause. If the agency says it is a Medicaid provider, ask which managed long-term care plans it contracts with, and confirm with the plan.

Families often find a New York name like family resources home care, healthcare plus caregivers, we care home care or care partners at home and want to know if it's legitimate. The Health Profiles record answers that question better than any review site.

Pennsylvania searches: Philadelphia and beyond

In Pennsylvania, the most common name-plus-place searches are access home care philadelphia and complete homecare pa. We also see names like homestead caregivers, red lion home care and caring people home care searched by Pennsylvania families — though many of these names are used in other states too.

Pennsylvania's Department of Health licenses non-medical home care agencies and home care registries, and it runs a public find a home care agency or registry tool. A registry matches you with a caregiver but may not employ them; an agency employs the aide. That difference decides who handles taxes, insurance and backup coverage, so ask which one you're dealing with.

• Philadelphia
• Allegheny (Pittsburgh)
• Montgomery
• Bucks
• Delaware County

For how Community HealthChoices, Services My Way and agency care fit together, read home care in Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania caregiver program page.

Other states: Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, California and Michigan

Some searched names carry a state or city with them: family care of georgia, at home care of louisiana, at your side home care houston, mom's home care los angeles and family love care michigan. Others — at your side home care, family love care, village caregiving locations — are searched from many places.

Every state has its own licensing body. California, for example, requires home care organizations to be licensed through the Department of Social Services' Home Care Services Bureau, and their aides must register with the state. Texas Health and Human Services licenses home care agencies there. Search "[your state] home care agency license lookup" and use the result on a .gov site.

Names used in many states: Always Caring, BestCare, Caring People

A large group of searches are for names that could belong to agencies almost anywhere. People look for always caring, always caring home care, always caring home health, bestcare home care, best care home health, a best care home care agency, caring people, caring people home healthcare, caring home care and a caring home care agency.

The same goes for names built from warm, common words: community home care, compassionate home care, loving hands home care, loving home care, helping hands home health, peace of mind home care, by your side home care, here for you home care, always there home care, always home caregiving, with love home care, because we care home care, about you in home care and one you love homecare.

And names built around a place or a promise: america home care, america best home care, america's best home care, america's home health services, an american home care agency, american home care services, the all american agency, united home health care, a united home care agency, number one home care, A Team Home Care, all care home care, better solutions home care, better at home care, better life home care, A Better Life Home Care, A Better Life Home Care Services, life home care, living care home health and abby home health care.

Because so many businesses share these words, a search result for one may lead you to a different company in another state. That's the main reason to start from the state's license record.

Why name-alike agencies get confused

Home care agencies choose names that sound caring, and there are only so many of those. That leads to real mix-ups:

• Near-identical names. Care choice, care choice home care and choice home care may be three unrelated businesses. So may friends & family home care, friends and family caregivers, friends for life homecare, chosen family home care and caring family home care.
• Brand names vs. legal names. An agency may advertise one name and hold its license under another. The license record shows the legal name.
• Franchises. A national brand can have many locally owned offices, each licensed separately. Quality and policies can differ office to office.
• Old listings. Agencies close, merge and rename. Directory sites often keep old phone numbers for years.
• Odd spellings. People type what they heard — "com for care home care" is one example — so search engines can send you somewhere unexpected.

The fix is the same every time: match the legal name, license number and address before you share any personal or insurance information.

Checking a Medicare-certified home health agency on Care Compare

If the agency provides skilled home health care — nursing or therapy ordered by a doctor — it may be Medicare-certified. Medicare's Care Compare lets you search home health agencies by name or area and shows star ratings for quality of patient care and patient surveys.

Non-medical home care agencies — the ones that send aides for bathing, dressing and meals — usually won't appear on Care Compare, because Medicare doesn't pay for that kind of ongoing help. See home health vs. home care for the difference, and does Medicare pay family caregivers? for what Medicare won't cover.

If you've been looking at a name like individual home care, individual home care services, an individual home care provider, people care home care or united home health care, the first question is simply which kind of agency it is.

Questions to ask any home care agency before you sign

Once the license checks out, ask these on the first call. A good agency answers them plainly.

1. What is your license type and number, and which counties do you serve?
2. Are your aides employees or contractors? Who pays their taxes and insurance?
3. What training and background checks do aides complete?
4. Will the same aide come each visit? What happens if they call out sick?
5. What is the hourly rate, the minimum shift length and the notice needed to cancel?
6. Which Medicaid plans, VA programs or insurance policies do you accept?
7. Do you hire family members as aides for their own relative?

Our guide to choosing a home care agency goes deeper, including how to read a service agreement.

Agency care vs. being paid as the family caregiver

Many families searching for an agency already have someone doing the work — a daughter, a son, a niece. If your relative qualifies for Medicaid home care, the program can often pay that person directly through a self-directed option instead of sending an agency aide.

Neither is always better. We compare them in detail in home care agency vs. paid family caregiver, and cover the hybrid route in home care agencies that hire family members.

Red flags when researching an agency

• No license record under any name you're given.
• An address on the website that doesn't match the state listing.
• Pressure to sign the same day or pay a large deposit.
• A fee to "enroll" you in a Medicaid program. Medicaid applications are free.
• Cash-only pay for aides, which can leave you exposed as an employer.
• Promises that Medicare will pay for long-term personal care. It won't.

If something feels off, ask the state licensing office or your local Area Agency on Aging. Our home care near me guide lists other ways to find vetted help.

Where to go next