Questions, answered honestly

Yes — and applying is always free, directly through your county or the state. What the county can't do is study your whole situation, compare your options, and tell you what to prepare before you call; offices answer the question you ask. The consultation exists so your first call to the county is the right call.

No. CareBudget is independent and private — not affiliated with the state, any county, or any health plan. We help you work with the official channels; we aren't one.

No — we sell no care services at all. That's deliberate: it means our answer isn't shaped by a business model that needs you to choose an agency.

No — no one honestly can. Eligibility and payment decisions are made through the appropriate county, state, tribal, health-plan, and assessment processes, never by us. What we do stand behind is our deliverable: if your consultation doesn't leave you with a clear next step, tell us on the call and we'll refund it.

It's a live 30-minute 1:1 session. We review your family's situation and map which pathway categories could be worth raising, then get specific: what to prepare, who to contact first, and what to skip.

A written action plan for your county — yours to keep. Plus one 15-minute follow-up call after you've started, included.

Because a wrong start costs more — weeks of calls, documents gathered twice, an application that stalls because it went through the wrong door. It's a flat price with no upsells: the session, the written county action plan, and the follow-up call are all included.

No — applications always go through official state, county, or health-plan channels. Our job is to prepare you to start right, not to file paperwork on your behalf.

Nothing is required to book, but the more you know about the care recipient's coverage, a typical day of care, and where they live, the more we get done together. Your written plan includes a document checklist so the pre-call gathering is organized, not guesswork.

Yes. Caregiving is usually a family effort, and it often helps to have the people who share decisions on the same call. Just let us know so we can plan for it.

You choose your session time immediately after checkout. The written action plan follows after the session — we write it for your county and household rather than hand you a template on the call — and your included follow-up call is there once you've started.

That's common — a hospital stay, a move, or new coverage can change the right path. Your plan flags what to re-confirm if things shift, and the included follow-up call is a good place to work through a change.

The guarantee is about our deliverable: if your consultation doesn't leave you with a clear next step, tell us on the call and we'll refund it. It is not tied to any government decision — no one can guarantee an eligibility or payment outcome, and we never imply otherwise.

Then you'll know that clearly and quickly, with the reasons why and what could change it. And the guarantee applies — if you don't leave with a clear next step, we'll refund the consultation.