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There are currently two different business models being sold to Consumers today. There are home care companies that have employees that provide care and there are other companies that have independent contractors that provide care.

Companies that provide independent contractors to not pay for any insurance for there care givers and they do not pay the employer payroll taxes, the consumer is liable for those. The independent contractor is responsible for their own workers compensation insurance and bond against theft. Some of these organizations advertise themselves as home care companies, others call themselves "registries" or "placement" agencies.

Part of the big problem for Consumers is that there are generally NO disclosure laws that govern these registry type companies and they are not required to tell Consumers that they are registries and the potential liability incurred by a consumer because of that.

There is a big difference between these types of companies and Consumers need to know the red flags of being fooled into believing they are getting a company that has employees and really they are getting an independent contractor. Some of these red flags are:

• If the home care company wants you to give one check to the company and give another to the caregiver, or if you are to just pay the caregiver, you can pretty well believe that you are paying an independent contractor.

• If a company is charging a price for services that is markedly below everyone else in the industry, regardless of what they tell you, they are probably a registry type business providing independent contractors. They can charge the lower prices because they do not pay for the caregivers employer tax liabilities or insurances. They do not screen them, do background checks or anything else an Employer does. The Consumer is responsible for payment of the state and federal government payroll tax. The Consumer is the one who has to pay in the event the independent care giver gets injured or becomes ill while working for the Consumer. The Consumer has no idea who they are getting as a caregiver.

• Just because a person says or their written materials say their caregivers are their employees and are insured does not necessarily make it so. We believe Consumers need to, for their own protection, get verification of a home care company by asking for copies of the home care company's:

             Workers' Compensation Insurance Certificate

             Insurance or Bonds for Theft Issues

             General Liability Insurance Policy

Remember: The sweet taste of cheap prices for home care services never lasts as long as the sour taste of the train wreck of your home care when you realize you were fooled into believing you were hiring a company that has employees and is protecting you, when in all reality they could have cared less.