The numbers behind the work families do
The work of managing healthcare falls on patients and their families, and most of it is invisible until you are doing it. These are the numbers behind that: how many people are carrying it, how much help goes unclaimed, and what it costs when the coordination fails. Every figure below links to its source.
Who is carrying the work
Family caregiving is the largest unpaid workforce in American healthcare. Most of the people doing it never chose the role and were never shown how. The unpaid coordinator behind these numbers is exactly the role a Careway advocate takes over, with Medicare covering the work.
Help that goes unclaimed
Programs exist for food, utilities, and healthcare costs, and large numbers of eligible older adults never enroll in them. The obstacle is usually the paperwork and not knowing the program exists. Finding these programs, completing the applications, and keeping the benefits alive through renewals is standing work for a Careway advocate.
What care costs when it is not coordinated
When staying at home stops working, the costs land on families directly. These are the numbers families usually see for the first time at the worst possible moment. Careway's whole aim is keeping someone stable at home — the follow-ups kept, the medications affordable, the help claimed — so these numbers stay hypothetical, and because the service is covered by Medicare, getting that help does not itself cost hundreds of dollars an hour.
The same story, told a different way
Every number above is the same story told a different way: the coordination of care is real work, it is unpaid and invisible, and when nobody does it the costs arrive as crises. Careway exists so a trained advocate — covered by Medicare and working alongside your own doctors — carries that work instead of your family.
Talk to someone who can take this on
Checking whether you qualify takes a couple of minutes. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you plainly.
Covered by Medicare. If you have a supplemental policy (Medigap) or Medicaid, your standard coinsurance may be fully covered.