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July 1, 2024
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Always Best Care provides various home care and home health services for older adults. Bolstered by its unique Always In Touch system — which enables clients to receive immediate companionship support from their caregivers — Always Best Care is an innovative player in the home care industry.
Always Best Care tends to cost a bit more than the average care agency. Still, its variety of care options, absence of minimum weekly service commitments, and strong rapport in many communities make it one of our favorite care agencies.
Pro Tip: If you’re new to caring for loved ones at home, read our guide to home care.
Always Best Care Pros and Cons
Pros
- Veteran-centered care: Always Best Care has specialized programs that provide care for veterans and work with Veterans Affairs benefits to reduce their costs.
- ADL assistance: In addition to providing companionship, the company’s caregivers are trained to assist clients with all the activities of daily living, including eating, dressing, grooming, toileting, mobility, and medication management.
- Remote patient monitoring: At no additional cost, Always Best Care can remotely monitor your vitals and send the information directly to your primary care physician, reducing hospital admissions and emergency-room visits.
- Low or no minimum visit time: In contrast to most senior care services, Always Best Care locations don’t typically have any weekly service commitments. Daily hour requirements are also usually fairly low — if they have them at all — making Always Best Care a great option to supplement the work of family caregivers.
Cons
- No live-in care: Always Best Care offers neither live-in care nor 24/7 home care services.
- Higher costs: Always Best Care typically charges $1 to $2 more than the average care agency in a given geographical area.
Always Best Care Review
Background
Established in 1996 in Sacramento, California, Always Best Care now has over 200 locations in the United States, Europe, and Australia. The company’s mission, however, remains the same: providing compassionate and professional care for older adults and anyone else who needs it.
Services
Always Best Care offers a variety of home care services, both medical and nonmedical. You should contact your local franchise for a full rundown of the services available in your area, but here’s an overview of what you can expect:
- In-home care: Also known as nonmedical care, in-home care with Always Best Care is divided into three categories: companionship, home help, and personal care services. Companionship refers to primarily social interactions, while home helper and personal care consist of help around the house and assistance with activities of daily living.
- Home health care: With this service, skilled nurses and therapists will collaborate to provide an organized, thorough, and customized strategy that meets the health needs of each client. If your loved one has dementia or another chronic illness that requires medical care, then Always Best Care home health services may be good for them.
- Assisted living placement: Always Best Care offers a service to help you find and adapt to an assisted living community.
Customer Experience
Each Always Best Care franchise is independently owned and operated, so your experience may vary from ours. Here’s what we found with several different locations:
- Always Best Care costs between $25 and $32 per hour.
- Care needs are assessed through an in-home consultation.
- After the consultation, caregiving can begin within a few days.
- Care visits must be a minimum of four hours long, but there are no weekly minimum commitments.
- In some cases, 24/7 care can be provided, but it depends on caregivers’ availability.
In our experience, Always Best Care works hard to understand the individual needs of each client. Its services are highly flexible, and the company will work with you to find a price that works for your financial situation.
Third-Party Reviews
Reviews of Always Best Care are predominantly positive, praising both the quality of care and effective communication. We found a handful of negative reviews, but most families greatly appreciated Always Best Care’s service.
“Always Best Care has been my saving grace over the last week. My grandfather was brought home for hospice care this week, and we scrambled to find some help for him and my grandmother, who is in the early stages of dementia. She has been fairly unreasonable through this process and downright mean at times, but Norma (our caregiver) has been so accommodating and the staff has been so much more patient than anyone should have to be. … I would recommend this company 10 times over. Their ability to work with patients in the hardest mental states is unmatched. There is no way to thank them enough.” —Belmont, Massachusetts
“Rarely do I give a five-star rating to any company, but this is clearly a deserved rating. I would highly recommend Always Best Care of Fort Worth. Their care and attention to detail is excellent. After two and a half years of service to our family, they became an extension to our family. Many times they went above and beyond expectations. They communicated very well with family members.” —Fort Worth, Texas
“Very professional, knowledgeable staff as far as dementia is concerned. Very good with my 87-year-old mom, who is recovering from a heart attack and has dementia.” —Henderson, Nevada
Care.com offers greater flexibility than traditional home care agencies.
Costs and Pricing
Always Best Care’s prices will vary by state, but we found that its services range from $25 to $32 per hour. Locations in the southeastern states had lower prices, while locations in California cost the most.
According to Genworth, the average national cost of home care is $26 per hour, making Always Best Care slightly more expensive than average. If you have VA benefits, long-term care insurance, or Medicaid waivers, Always Best Care can help you figure out how to pay for its services.
Areas Served
Always Best Care has over 200 franchises across 34 U.S. states, including:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- North Carolina
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
To find an Always Best Care location near you, contact the company at 855-470-2273 to get connected with your local franchise.
To learn more about home care — and our favorite home care agencies — check out our helpful guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
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How much does Always Best Care cost?
Depending on the location, Always Best Care costs between $25 and $32 per hour. In most cases, the company’s prices are slightly higher than the local average.
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Does Always Best Care require a weekly minimum commitment?
Most Always Best Care franchises do not have a weekly minimum commitment, but a few do. Ask your local franchise about its weekly and daily minimums.
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How can I find Always Best Care?
Visit the Locations page on the Always Best Care website and search by state or ZIP code to identify the franchise nearest you. You could also call 800-973-1540 to be connected with your local provider.
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Does Always Best Care offer skilled nursing services?
Many Always Best Care locations provide skilled nursing services. The agency categorizes this type of care under home health care.
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Does Always Best Care accept Medicare and Medicaid?
Medicaid may cover short-term (less than 90 days) home health care that a doctor prescribes, but it will not cover time any caregiver spends aiding you or your loved one with nonmedical tasks. Medicaid may pay for some portion of nonmedical in-home care, but you must meet the financial requirements for Medicaid — and it’s unlikely all care will be covered.