Most daughters who price a home aide start by asking for the hourly rate. That is a fair first question, and it tells you less about the total than you would think. The rate is one line. The schedule you book fills in the rest, and the schedule is the part you control.

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.

Count the shortest visit first

Ask the agency or aide company what the minimum billable block is per visit. Some bill in set blocks, so a forty-minute check-in can be charged as though it ran longer. If your mom needs three short visits a day, those minimums stack in a way one four-hour block never would. Write down each visit you have in mind, with its start time and length, and ask the company to price that list line by line instead of quoting one weekly number.

Check whether the minimum applies per visit or per day. A split day, with a morning visit and an evening visit, can cost more than one continuous shift covering the same hours, because each start carries its own floor.

Weekends, holidays, and the extra hour

Ask for the weekend and holiday rates in writing, not as a note from a phone call. Many companies raise the rate on those days, and holidays may carry their own line. If you plan family coverage around holidays, that line will matter as much as the regular hours.

Ask when overtime starts. If the aide works past a set number of hours in one week, the company may bill the excess at a higher rate. A small change, such as moving a two-hour block from Friday to Monday, can shift the total more than you expect.

What counts as paid time

Ask whether travel between clients is billed, and whether the drive from the office to your mom's house counts. Ask whether errands are billable, including a pharmacy pickup. A hired in-home non-medical aide may give medication reminders and pick up prescriptions as an errand, and that errand time should appear on the sheet. Handing out, sorting, or managing medicine stays with the family, the doctor, and the pharmacist, so keep those tasks off any list you give an aide.

The cancellation line

Ask what happens when a visit is cancelled on short notice, when your mom is in the hospital, or when the aide is out sick. Ask whether you pay for a cancelled block, whether a replacement is guaranteed, and how you will be notified. A cancelled visit you still paid for belongs in the money column, not in a surprise at month end.

Before you sign

Put five items on one page: the minimum block per visit, the weekend and holiday rate, the overtime threshold, what counts as billable time, and the cancellation terms. Bring that page to every company you call and ask them to fill in each line. The company with blanks is the one to question.

Then compare totals for your schedule, not the quoted rate. The company that looks cheapest per hour can cost the most once your mom's real visits are priced. For local agencies and the questions to ask them, see Local help.