Post-hospital home care · Pennsylvania

Home care after hospital discharge in Pennsylvania.

If a loved one is being discharged from a Pennsylvania hospital, the 48-72 hours before discharge is the highest-value window for arranging home care. This hub covers what PA hospital discharge teams handle, what they don't, county cost math across Philly-metro / Lehigh Valley / central PA / Pittsburgh, and how to find vetted private-pay providers for the specific hospital service area.

The short answer: PA hospital discharge teams arrange short-term Medicare-covered skilled home health for 30-60 days. They do NOT arrange ongoing custodial home care. Custodial care is private-pay, runs $27-40/hour in Philly metro, $25-36/hour in Lehigh Valley and central PA, $25-34/hour in Pittsburgh metro. SeniorsAssistants matches families to vetted providers in the specific hospital service area at no cost.

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PA hospitals with home care planning guides

Below are the Pennsylvania hospitals with dedicated post-discharge home care planning guides — organized by region. Each guide covers the specific hospital's discharge process, county-specific cost bands, insurance and funding sources, interview questions for post-discharge providers, and SeniorsAssistants matching for the hospital's service area.

Philadelphia city (Penn Medicine + Temple)

Philadelphia suburbs (Main Line Health + Jefferson + suburbs)

Lehigh Valley (St. Luke's + Lehigh Valley Health Network)

Central + South-Central PA (Reading / Lancaster / York / Harrisburg)

Pittsburgh metro (UPMC + Allegheny Health Network)

Northwest PA

PA county cost math for post-discharge home care

Pennsylvania has one of the most geographically diverse home care markets in the country — spanning the Philadelphia academic-medical hub, the Lehigh Valley cross-state commuter market, mid-tier central PA, and the UPMC-dominated Pittsburgh metro. Genworth's Cost of Care Survey plus SeniorsAssistants' agency-rate tracking gives these 2026 personal-care hourly ranges:

  • Philadelphia + Philly suburbs (Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester): $27-40/hour · mid-upper · metro cost of living + academic-medical density
  • Lehigh Valley (Lehigh, Northampton): $26-36/hour · mid-tier · shared commuter market with western NJ
  • Central PA (Berks, Lancaster, York, Dauphin, Centre): $25-34/hour · mid-tier
  • Pittsburgh metro (Allegheny): $25-34/hour · mid-tier · UPMC-dominated market
  • Erie, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre (Erie, Lackawanna, Luzerne): $24-32/hour · mid-lower

What PA hospital discharge teams arrange · and what they don't

Pennsylvania hospital discharge planning teams — whether Penn Medicine, Jefferson, Temple, Main Line Health, Tower Health, UPMC, WellSpan, Lehigh Valley Health Network, St. Luke's, Geisinger, or Allegheny Health Network — follow a similar pattern for the medical transition to home. They arrange prescription filling, follow-up appointments, medical equipment, and short-term skilled home health services covered by Medicare for the initial recovery episode.

What they do not arrange — because it's outside their scope — is ongoing custodial home care. That's the day-to-day help with bathing, dressing, meal preparation, medication reminders, and safety supervision that a discharged elderly patient often needs for weeks or months. Custodial care is arranged privately by the family, and it is by far the most-overlooked component of post-hospital planning across every PA hospital system.

The gap between hospital-arranged skilled care and family-arranged custodial care is where most preventable readmissions happen — a pattern the CMS Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program specifically targets. PA's academic-medical centers (HUP, Jefferson, Temple, Penn State Hershey, UPMC Presbyterian) publicly report readmission metrics and are increasingly attentive to the custodial-care gap.

Insurance and funding for post-discharge home care in PA

Medicare covers a limited episode of skilled home health following hospitalization. Medicare does NOT cover ongoing custodial home care.

Long-term care insurance covers custodial care when policy triggers are met. Pennsylvania has moderate LTCi penetration; Philly-suburb families often have policies through employer benefit packages.

VA Aid & Attendance benefit provides up to approximately $2,795/month for eligible veterans and surviving spouses. Work with a VA-accredited representative to file the claim. PA also has state-level veteran services through the PA Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Private pay covers the balance for most PA families. Philly-suburb families often use a mixed model — LTCi covering a base of hours, private-pay supplementing to reach actual need.

Related resources

Planning a discharge from a Pennsylvania hospital?

Tell us the hospital, discharge date, and care needs — we'll match you with vetted post-discharge providers in the specific service area.

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