When a family member needs in-home care, you want to provide them with the best service possible. However, it’s tough to find someone who loves them as much as you do. It seems as though some companies just want to talk about finances. You need someone who truly cares. Did you know that you could be paid to be a caregiver under the CDPA Program in NY? We at Trusted Choice Homecare can help with answers to those questions.
What Is CDPA?
CDPA stands for Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program. It’s administered through Medicaid and allows patients to oversee their own home care representatives. Because of this, patients can choose family members or close friends to provide care.
This is a scenario that happens quite frequently. As people get older, they may suffer from health conditions that change their daily routine. They may need injections or medication on a regular basis.
People like this usually need a home attendant that can monitor their health and provide them with their daily medications. But some of them aren’t amenable to bringing a stranger into the house. They may have had a negative experience in the past or mistrust people they don’t know.
When your health is suffering, you don’t need the added stress of managing an outsider in your own home. Bringing in an unfamiliar person can make elderly individuals suspicious, anxious or depressed. Plus, a traditional home attendant wouldn’t be permitted to take care of certain health matters, such as administering insulin shots.
Under the CDPA Program, you can hire someone you know to take care of a patient who needs home care. The personal assistant is authorized to provide skilled services. In other words, the health aide that is hired through the CDPA Program could provide those insulin injections. They might also be a friend or loved one that the patient trusts.
Eligibility for CDPA
If you are a patient who has a chronic but stable health condition, is qualified for more than 120 days of long-term care and have Medicaid, you can have a doctor sign off on the medical necessity for this program. Most eligible candidates are enrolled in some type of Medicaid Managed Care Plan.
If you’re eligible, you are allowed to recruit, hire and manage your home health care workers. Therefore, you can hire someone that you’re familiar with.
To be eligible for this program, you must be able to direct your own care or have a representative who can do so. A self-directing person:
• Is willing and able to make knowledgeable choices about the services that they receive
• Is able to structure their environment in a way that supports these choices
• Is capable of understanding the consequences of their choices
• Can take responsibility for their choices
If a patient is unable to make their own choices about their lifestyle and care, they must appoint a representative who can take over these decisions. That individual must take responsibility for recruiting, hiring and directing the caregivers. They also have to organize backup coverage when necessary and maintain payroll records.
The flexibility to choose a caregiver provides patients with peace of mind. They don’t have to bring a stranger into their home. They can work with the people who already know about their health history, preferences and personality. The CDPA Program allows people to work together to care for the individuals that they love the most.
Who Can Be Hired as a Personal Assistant?
If you have a loved one who needs home medical care, you could be a designated representative. This person makes informed decisions about home health care or nursing services. The designated representative also manages respite care, personal care and transportation.
To be a personal assistant, you shouldn’t already be legally responsible for the Medicaid consumer’s care. That means that the personal assistant who works as the health aide cannot be the designated representative that we referred to in the section above.
However, a parent of an adult child could be their caregiver. An adult child could be their parents’ caregiver. In a parent-child situation, the two may not live together unless it’s necessary to provide the required level of care. Parents of children under the age of 21 may not be their caregivers.
Medicaid will also determine whether the patient can obtain an adequate level of care from the personal assistant. People with some serious health conditions may not qualify.
Do Personal Assistants Need a License?
Personal assistants don’t require a special certification or license to administer care. Still, they are permitted to perform skilled services that regular home aides don’t. These include suctioning tracheotomies, administering wound care, checking vital signs, dressing wounds and giving injections.
The personal assistants are not paid through the program. They are independent contractors who receive their salaries through contracted fiscal intermediaries. However, the key is that a loved one who works as a personal assistant can get paid to care for the patient.
In many cases, family members do this anyway. If your mother lives alone, you probably check on her to ensure that she has everything she needs and is taking her medication. She trusts you, and you know her schedule and routine.
You don’t need to have formal training in caregiving to provide loving, compassionate assistance for your mother. Moreover, you can be paid for the time that you spend attending to her.
The Bottom Line
Personal assistants through the CDPA Program can take care of the duties of a home health aide and personal care worker. They can help a patient cook, bathe and run errands as well as cater to their medical needs.
Many people are already doing this for their loved ones without being compensated. This level of responsibility can be taxing and put an undue burden on the family.
Some people quit their jobs to take care of a loved one. The compensation that they could receive from the CDPA Program could change their lives. If you need medical assistance or have a loved one that does, contact us to learn more about how the CDPA Program can help you.
Contact Us For Further Questions
If you have questions or want to sign up with our program, contact us online or call (716) 431-5550 today!
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