Quick answer
Yes, family members can be paid in Florida
- Spouse Not confirmed
- Adult child Yes
2 programs to ask about. Start here: Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care (SMMC LTC) – Participant Direction Option (PDO).
These badges summarize the details below. "Not confirmed" means we couldn't find it stated on an official page yet.
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Programs that pay family caregivers
Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care (SMMC LTC) – Participant Direction Option (PDO)
Enrollees whose plan of care includes adult companion care, attendant care, homemaker, intermittent/skilled nursing, or personal care, and who live in their own or a family home, can hire their own direct service worker, including family members, neighbors, or friends. The enrollee is the employer.
Home Care for the Elderly (HCE)
For Floridians 60+ living in a family-type arrangement in a private home. Provides a subsidy for support and maintenance of the elder (not hourly caregiver wages).
Who can be paid?
Can I get paid to take care of my parent in Florida?
Adult children and other relatives may be hired under PDO if they meet minimum qualifications (AHCA PDO materials).
Can a spouse be paid as a caregiver in Florida?
Unverified. AHCA's PDO contract says enrollees may hire 'any individual' meeting minimum qualifications, including family members; a Florida elder-law firm states spouses can be hired under PDO. We have not found an official AHCA page that states this explicitly.
How to apply
How do I apply in Florida?
Call the Elder Helpline at 1-800-96-ELDER (800-963-5337) to reach your local ADRC for SMMC LTC screening. If already enrolled, ask your LTC plan case manager about PDO.
Is there a waiting list in Florida?
Unknown – check with your local Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC).
Pay and requirements
How much does it pay?
Not published statewide by an official source we checked. Rates are set through the plan/PDO process.
Caregiver requirements
Direct service workers must meet minimum provider qualifications and pass a Level II background screening (AHCA PDO contract exhibit). An employer representative may not also be a paid worker.
Real caregivers in Florida
Thelma – Daughter caring for her mother, Hortense, who has advanced Alzheimer's
Florida Medicaid Long-Term Care (LTC) Waiver, via managed care plan
A managed care plan representative assured Thelma that if she left her job to care for her mother, she would be paid for 41 hours a week; she quit her job as a court reporter. The plan later cut hours, which were reinstated after a hearing.
Pay: $10.76/hour for 41 hours a week (as reported). Source: Florida Health Justice Project, 2024-02-16.
Diwantie Campayne – Daughter caring for her mother, who has dementia
Florida Medicaid managed long-term care (paid family caregiver hours)
“I'm keeping her out of a nursing home which is much more expensive to the state.”
Pay: Hours cut to 2 a day, later 40 hours/week of aide care after a hearing (as reported). Source: Florida Health Justice Project, 2024-02-17.
Published stories, summarized with attribution; not endorsements. More real stories · Research