Yes. In Utah, a family member can be paid to give care through Personal Attendant Services. Whether a spouse can be paid depends on conditions set out below with their sources.
Checked
Each fact below links to its official source and shows the date we checked it. How we verify
We do not sell your information. No sales calls, no lead forms.
Medicaid waiver
Checked
People age 65 or older who need a nursing facility level of care and meet Medicaid financial eligibility. The waiver provides services, such as help with household tasks, that help older adults stay in their homes or other community settings.
Source: Services (Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services)Checked
Medicaid self-directed care
Checked
Aging Waiver enrollees who are assessed to need personal attendant services. You, or a person appointed to decide for you, choose and keep the attendant, supervise the work and verify the attendant's time sheet. You can employ the attendant directly, using a Fiscal Management Agency for the employer paperwork, or use an agency-employed attendant.
Yes. Yes for relatives other than a spouse or legal guardian. The approved waiver says relatives, other than legal guardians and spouses, may provide specified waiver services, and it lists relatives as allowed providers of Personal Attendant Services.
Medicaid does not pay for Personal Attendant Services performed for other members of the family.
Depends. Utah's approved waiver says both. Its section on legally responsible individuals (C-2-d, marked Yes) lets a spouse be paid for Personal Attendant Services as extraordinary care when the participant chooses the spouse and the team supports it, the spouse is not also directing services for the participant, the spouse has a unique ability to meet the participant's needs (for example, nursing licensure), and the spouse provides no more than 40 hours a week. But the same approved waiver's definition of Personal Attendant Services says payment will not be made for services furnished by the individual's spouse, and its section C-2-e says spouses are not permitted to provide waiver services under Administrative Rule R539-5-5.
Where a spouse is approved, the state reviews the whole support picture, including the risk to the spouse, and a third party verifies time sheets. A spouse who is considering this should confirm the current rule with the Area Agency on Aging case manager. The approved application is the ZIP file linked on the medicaid.gov page.
No. No. The approved waiver says legal guardians are not permitted to provide waiver services, and does not list legal guardians as providers of Personal Attendant Services.
When you employ the attendant directly, you negotiate the hourly wage with them. Employer payroll costs such as Social Security and Medicare taxes are paid on top of that wage.
Source: Utah Medicaid Provider Manual, HCBS Waiver for Individuals Age 65 or Older (Division of Integrated Healthcare, updated April 2022)Checked
Personal Attendant Services will not exceed five hours a day, unless an evaluation approves more for a limited time. A spouse providing the service through self-direction is limited to 25 hours a week, and routine respite is not provided while a spouse is the paid attendant.
Contact your local Area Agency on Aging (listed at daas.utah.gov/locations/) to learn more.
Source: Services (Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services)Checked
Aging Waiver enrollees who need Personal Attendant Services are told about the option to direct the service themselves, including whether to employ the attendant directly or use an agency.
How we verify explains these dates.