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Maine Home Care Guideby Silver Linings Agency

Home Care vs. Home Health Care in Maine

Last updated October 2026

Home care and home health care sound alike, but in Maine they are different services with different licenses and different ways to pay. Knowing which one a person needs tells you which kind of agency to call.

What Is Home Care?

Home care is help with everyday life at home. The State’s rule calls it personal care services: help with bathing, dressing, eating, using the toilet and moving around, and with tasks such as preparing meals, shopping, light housework, managing money and communication (10-144 CMR Chapter 129). It is non-medical. Most caregivers who provide it are Personal Support Specialists or certified nursing assistants, as Home Care Licensing and Caregiver Training explains.

An agency that provides home care holds a Personal Care Agency license from Maine DHHS. The rule bars such an agency from advertising that it is a home health agency or that it provides services that need a licensed medical professional (Chapter 129).

What Is Home Health Care?

Home health care is health care given at home: nursing, physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, medical social work and nutrition services, along with aides who work under a nurse’s supervision. It treats an illness or disability, with the aim of restoring or keeping a person’s ability to function on their own (10-144 CMR Chapter 119).

A business needs a separate home health license from Maine DHHS to provide it (22 MRS §2143). Under that license a registered nurse, or a therapist when only therapy is given, visits the home and writes the plan of care, and aides must be certified nursing assistants supervised by a registered nurse (Chapter 119).

Can One Agency Provide Both?

Yes. A home health agency can send aides to help with bathing and dressing under its own license, delegated and supervised by a registered nurse, and it does not need a Personal Care Agency license to do so (Chapter 119; Chapter 129). Some agencies hold both licenses. For questions to put to an agency about this, see license and inspections in Questions to Ask a Home Care Agency.

Who Pays for Each Kind of Care?

Medicare pays for home health care when a doctor or another qualified provider has seen the person and ordered it, the person needs skilled care part-time or now and then, and they are homebound, meaning leaving home takes considerable effort. The care must come from a Medicare-certified home health agency. Medicare covers a home health aide only alongside skilled care, and it does not pay for personal care when that is the only care someone needs (Medicare.gov).

MaineCare also pays for home health care for members who are under a doctor’s care, have a plan of care the doctor signs, and cannot safely get the same care outside the home (MaineCare rule, Section 40).

Home care is paid for differently: privately, through long-term care insurance, or through MaineCare, a state program or veterans’ benefits. Paying for Home Care in Maine covers each one.

Can Someone Have Both at the Same Time?

Yes. Because Medicare covers aide visits only part-time and only alongside skilled care, a person recovering at home may get nursing or therapy from a home health agency and more hours of help with daily tasks from a home care agency, paid for separately.

Which Agencies Does This Guide List?

This guide lists every agency with an active Personal Care Agency license, the license for home care. An agency that holds only a home health license is not listed. To find Medicare-certified home health agencies that serve your area, use Medicare’s Care Compare. When a doctor orders home health care, they should give you a list of agencies that serve your area (Medicare.gov).

Next Step

If the help needed is everyday, non-medical care, search for home care agencies that serve your town.

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