Have you considered consulting a medicare attorney?
I've heard "Visiting Angels" advertised on a conservative talk show, but have no experience with them personally.
Some HMOs in the past (before Obamacare) have offered additional services to the elderly- transportation, meals on wheels, maid service, etc.. You might look into any medicare advantage HMO plans in their area to see what they offer. Home health services can be offered, I believe, to those who qualify.
I have been involves with a dozen of them with several seniors and have not found one worth the powder to blow it to heck. In my experience they are all disasters. And I am dubious of those with "cute names" that suggest great compassion. That is an understatement. Worse, the state has now enacted a new law forcing you to engage a "supervisor" to select the service if you are obtaining funding through medicare/medicaid. The best thing to do is to hire them yourself. I fired thirty-seven of them before doing this. I found highly educated immigrants from European countries and trained them myself using the guidelines of the American geriatric association. I got four women with advanced degrees, no training whatsoever (except they were helpful, religious, and caring) and they served wonderfully. The other possibility is to offer live-in priviliges in return for a certain number of hours of care. In any event they have to be closely supervised. Under Obamacare you will be severely restricted in your choice of providers. Check the caregivers section for my additional comments on this.
I didn't care for the use of the word "Angels" myself. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with the particular franchise(s) you encountered.
What a disappointment but sounds like in the end, you were very innovative in coming up with an alternative solution!
Thanks for your suggestion