Getting paid to care for a parent in Ohio

Who can be the paid caregiver

Adult children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces/nephews and other relatives can be hired as the paid caregiver on PASSPORT and MyCare (Consumer-Directed Personal Care or Choices Home Care Attendant), and on the Ohio Home Care Waiver as a non-agency (independent) personal care aide or home care attendant. You must be 18 or older, have a Social Security number and a valid government photo ID, pass a BCI criminal background check (plus an FBI check if you lived outside Ohio in the last five years), get an NPI number, and apply through Ohio Medicaid's Provider Network Module (PNM) at ohpnm.omes.maximus.com — the Medicaid Integrated Help Desk is 800-686-1516. For the Ohio Home Care Waiver non-agency personal care aide job you also need a competency-evaluation or training certificate completed in the last 24 months and hands-on first aid certification (OAC 5160-46-04). Area agencies tell caregivers to expect 90 days to six months to get certified. Now the limits that catch people out: (1) On PASSPORT and MyCare participant-directed services, ANY paid provider — relative or not — may be paid for no more than 40 hours a week for one person (a case manager can approve more only for an emergency), no more than 56 hours a week across everyone they serve, and no more than five people (OAC 173-39-02.4). (2) If your parent names a representative through the fiscal management service to help direct their care, that representative cannot also be the paid caregiver (OAC 5160-44-32(G)(4)). You have to pick one role or the other. (3) If you hold a legal designation over your parent — authorized representative, general or healthcare power of attorney, or probate guardianship — you are capped at 40 paid hours a week (OAC 5160-44-32(F)), and a court-appointed guardian also needs a probate court order specifically allowing them to be a paid direct service provider under Rule 66.04 of the Rules of Superintendence. (4) For Home Care Attendant service (OAC 5160-44-27) you cannot be the paid attendant at all if you are your parent's authorized representative, legal guardian, foster caregiver, or legally responsible family member. (5) You may not verify (sign off on) your own service delivery, and you may not be paid by anyone else for other work during the hours you bill Medicaid.

The spouse question

Spouses CAN be paid in Ohio, but only under the narrow conditions of OAC 5160-44-32 (effective 1/1/2024): there is no other willing and able provider available; ODM, ODA or their designee confirms the person's health and safety can be ensured; the care is 'extraordinary,' meaning beyond what a spouse would ordinarily do, scored on the state's ODM 10372 Ohio Extraordinary Care Instrument; pay is capped at 40 hours a week (the state can grant an exception); the spouse must be employed through an agency or work through the fiscal management service; the spouse cannot bill for respite; and the household must accept monthly care-manager contact with an in-person visit at least every 60 days. All of it has to be written into the person-centered services plan. A spouse who is also the court-appointed guardian needs the probate court's approval under Rule 66.04 of the Rules of Superintendence to be paid. For an adult child caring for a parent, the 'no other provider available' test, the extraordinary-care test and the respite ban do not apply — an adult child is an ordinary hireable relative. But that does not mean no limits. If you are your parent's authorized representative, hold general or healthcare power of attorney, or are their probate-appointed guardian, OAC 5160-44-32(F) caps you at 40 paid hours a week just the same, and a guardian still needs that Rule 66.04 court order. And on PASSPORT or MyCare participant-directed services, 40 hours a week for one client is the cap for every paid provider, related or not.

Waitlist reality

PASSPORT is a 1915(c) waiver with a capped number of slots, and Ohio runs a single 'unified waiting list' shared by PASSPORT, the Assisted Living Waiver and PACE (OAC 173-44-04): if you meet the non-financial rules but no slot is open, you are placed on that list by date and offered a slot in order. In practice Ohio has historically enrolled PASSPORT applicants without a long wait. Secondary sources put the cap at roughly 39,800 people a year, but we could not confirm a current 2026 slot count or waiting-list number from an official Ohio source — treat both as unconfirmed and ask your Area Agency on Aging what the wait looks like today. The bigger 2026 change is not a waitlist at all: Next Generation MyCare finished going statewide on August 1, 2026, so parents with both Medicare and Medicaid have been moved from PASSPORT or the Ohio Home Care Waiver onto the MyCare Ohio Waiver run by their managed care plan, and there is no separate waitlist for that. The Ohio Home Care Waiver is generally accessible without a long wait. What families actually experience as 'the wait' is the process: assessment, Medicaid financial eligibility, and then caregiver certification, which Area Agencies on Aging say commonly takes 90 days to six months on its own.

Other doors in Ohio

Wartime veteran or surviving spouse in the family? VA Aid & Attendance stacks on top of state programs — see the national guide.

How to apply — step by step

1. Figure out which door you are at. If your parent already has a MyCare Ohio plan (Anthem, CareSource, Molina or Buckeye), call the care management number on the back of their member ID card, or the Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline at 800-324-8680 — since August 1, 2026 anyone 21+ with both Medicaid and Medicare A/B/D is in a MyCare plan statewide. If your parent is 60 or older with Medicaid but no Medicare, call 1-866-243-5678, the Ohio Department of Aging line that routes you to your local Area Agency on Aging / PASSPORT Administrative Agency, and say you want a PASSPORT assessment and are interested in participant-directed care with a family caregiver. If your parent is under 60 with a physical disability, call Ohio Medicaid at 800-324-8680 about the Ohio Home Care Waiver.
2. Complete the free in-home level-of-care assessment; your parent must need a nursing-facility level of care (help with daily activities like bathing, dressing, toileting). PASSPORT also requires being 60 or older at enrollment (OAC 5160-31-03).
3. Apply for Medicaid financially if not already enrolled: benefits.ohio.gov, your County Department of Job and Family Services, or the Ohio Benefits helpdesk at 1-844-640-6446. 2026 waiver limits: roughly $2,982/month income and $2,000 in countable assets for a single applicant. A Miller (qualified income) trust fixes being over the income limit.
4. Once approved, tell the case manager or care coordinator which paid-caregiver route you want and name your family member. On PASSPORT or MyCare that is Consumer-Directed Personal Care (about $13.76/hour) or Choices Home Care Attendant (negotiated, up to roughly $27/hour). On the Ohio Home Care Waiver it is a non-agency personal care aide (about $22.32/hour) or a home care attendant (about $27.53 base). Ask what each option pays and what it requires before you choose — the difference is thousands of dollars a year.
5. The family caregiver gets certified and enrolled: BCI criminal background check (plus FBI if you lived outside Ohio in the last five years), Social Security number and government photo ID, an NPI number, and a provider application in Ohio Medicaid's Provider Network Module (PNM) at ohpnm.omes.maximus.com. Ohio Medicaid's Integrated Help Desk is 800-686-1516. Plan on 90 days to six months for this step.
6. Hours are set in the person-centered services plan — remember the 40-hours-per-week-per-person cap on participant-directed services. The caregiver logs time (electronic visit verification applies) and is paid through the program's financial management service, or bills Medicaid directly if enrolled as a non-agency provider. Ask your case manager which company handles the payroll and taxes for your program.

Where to start: Ohio Department of Aging / Area Agency on Aging network: 1-866-243-5678 (aging.ohio.gov); Medicaid eligibility questions: Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline 800-324-8680

Do it yourself vs. get help

Free, accredited help first, always: your Area Agency on Aging (eldercare.acl.gov) walks families through these applications at no charge, and your county Veterans Service Officer files VA claims free. Where Resbit fits: if you're working a job and don't have hours for hold music, Resbit finds what your family qualifies for, fills out the paperwork down to the signature line, and does the chasing — flat $49/month, and the screener that starts it is free.