Ask Mike - Can I get paid to take care of my father in his home?

Dear Going to Arizona,

Thanks for submitting a question to "Ask Mike". You write that your father would like to move from a nursing facility in Montana to his own home in Arizona City, AZ. You currently live in Oregon and would like to move to Arizona to be his care giver and want to know if you can be paid to do so?

The short answer is likely "yes". He will have to meet eligibility requirements, but since he is in a nursing facility, he probably does. You also will have to meet any requirements such as background checks and program registration. The good news is that I checked with a colleague in Arizona and he said that you should be able to be paid to provide personal assistance to your father.

You will want to obtain information directly from state officials, collect and begin processing paperwork, and nail down hard details before you and your father actually move down to Arizona. You should contact the Arizona State Medicaid Agency. You can find the contact information for this agency on this PAS Center website. Many other selections are available on this page that can put you in touch with organizations that may have useful information.

I looked at the agency website listed above and it contains a lot of information. While the short browsing I conducted did not come up with anything immediately germane to your direct question, you may want to search around the Arizona Medicaid Agency & Health Care Cost Containment System website. At a minimum, look at Community Partners page and read the brief descriptions of the services your father will likely use. Also look at the Provider Registration Packets page which includes registration instructions which will give you an idea of the provider rules and requirements. Another important note is that at the bottom of the Provider Registration Packets page, there are names, addresses and phone numbers for questions.

I hope this helps and good luck with moving your father to his own home where he wants to be!

Mike Oxford