In-home assistance at no cost

Choose your personal assistant

With the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Service (CDPAS), you can choose your personal assistant. Your personal assistant can be anyone, including a family member, as long as they meet certain criteria. This gives you more control over your care.

Your personal assistant can help with services like:

• Bathing
• Dressing
• Meal preparation
• Going to the bathroom
• Walking
• Feeding

You can also receive skilled services like:

• Tube feeding
• Taking your medication
• Wound care
• Care to help you breathe

How the CDPAS works

When you receive care through the CDPAS, you or a person you choose is responsible for:

• Choosing, hiring, training and managing your personal assistant. Managing your personal assistant includes scheduling time with and evaluating them
• Making sure your personal assistant’s time sheet is correct and approving it
• Changing your personal assistant, if you choose to

When you choose your personal assistant, they’ll need to register with one of our fiscal intermediaries (partners). When they do, our partner will pay your personal assistant for the hours they work.

You may choose to disenroll from the self-directed CDPAS program and receive regular personal care services through Empire MLTC at any time.

How do I join the CDPAS?

See if you’re eligible

To qualify for the CDPAS, you must be able to:

• Make informed choices about your care
• Interview, train, direct, and schedule appointments with your personal assistant and backup staff. You’ll need backup staff in case your personal assistant needs to take a day off
• Track the time your personal assistant works
• Send a timesheet to one of Empire’s fiscal intermediaries (partners) so your personal assistant can get paid
• Tell Empire if your health condition changes

Call 1-855-661-0002 (TTY 711) to join

Tell us you’re interested in the CDPAS! Just call Member Services at 1-855-661-0002 (TTY 711). Once you do, a nurse will:

• Work with you to complete an assessment
• Develop an individualized Person-Centered Service Plan (PCSP)
• Answer any questions you may have

After you work with the nurse, you’ll need to:

• Complete an application and send it to one of our fiscal intermediaries (partners)
• Choose your personal assistant, including two backup workers to use if your personal assistant needs to take time off