Personal Care Assistants provide assistance and support to the elderly, persons with disabilities, and others with special health care needs living independently in the community.
In order for a person to receive PCA services, the services must be:
- medically necessary;
- authorized by a licensed physician;
- documented in a written service plan; and
- provided at the recipient’s place of residence or other location (not a hospital or health care facility).
In addition, recipients of PCA services must be in stable medical condition, be able to direct their own care or have a responsible party who provides support, and have a need for assistance in at least one activity of daily living or a Level I behavior.1
The determination of the amount of service available to a person is based on an assessment of needs. PCA services provided include the following:
- Assistance with activities of daily living (e.g., eating, toileting, grooming, dressing,bathing, transferring, mobility, and positioning)
- Assistance with instrumental activities of daily living (e.g., meal planning andpreparation, managing finances, and shopping for essential items)
- Assistance with health-related procedures and tasks
- Intervention for behavior, including observation and redirection
PCA program statistics (does not include managed care enrollees) for fiscal year 2016:
- Total MA expenditures: $607.7 million
- Monthly average recipients: 20,795
- Average monthly cost per recipient: $2,435
- Level I behavior means physical aggression towards self, others, or destruction of property that requires the immediate response of another person (Minn. Stat. § 256B.0659, subd. 1, para. (c)).
The content of this and any related posts has been copied or adopted from the Minnesota House of Representatives Research Department’s Information Brief, Long-Term Care Services for the Elderly, written by legislative analyst Danyell Punelli.