Agencies, Nurse Registries, Companions

Florida has three kinds of licensed or registered home care companies.

- Nurse Registries (recruiters)

- Home companions (sitters and non-health)

- Home care agencies

Only the last group is technically a home care agency, but all.....
compete for mostly the same clients. Clients are often unaware of the distinctions and most of us, myself included, usually refer to any of the three groups as agencies despite the actual differences.

Online search:

When considering a Florida "agency" you should check out their licensing status on the FloridaHealthFinder.gov search site. Using the drop-down menu, select Home Health Agency, Nurse Registry, or Homeaker and Companion Service. Unfortunately, the categories must be searched separately. If you don't see your "agency" listed in one, try the others.
The differences:

Registries generally are not eligible for Medicare-covered work, and neither are home companion companies. Agencies may be eligible Medicare requirements if they meet certain licensing requirements.

Placement through a home companion service means the caregiver should not be providing the actual personal care, such as bathing. Adding to the confusion, local offices of national franchise chains like Comfort Keepers may qualify as home care agencies in many states, but not necessarily in Florida, where the local branch might only qualify as a companion service.

Nurse registries do not actually hire the nurse or CNA. They arrange for the professionals registered with them to work for clients on a contract basis. Hospitals, especially those in areas with skilled nurse shortages, often use registries to fill specialized or temporary needs. I register with nurse registries, and have found that the assignments that some have access to can be interesting.

Registries, and any agencies that place caregivers like myself on a contract basis, are not paying any portion of social security or withholding taxes. Contract caregivers report and pay taxes themselves, just as any other contractor would (despite the articles we read that imply otherwise), and often have their own liability coverage.

In Florida, licensed CNA's are 'eligible providers' under Long Term Care policies, whether they are hired directly or placed through agencies or registries.