Guides → Utah

Getting paid to care for a parent in Utah

Updated 2026-08-10 · Every figure below is dated and sourced · Rules change — confirm with the agency
The short answer: Utah's door is Aging Waiver (Medicaid HCBS Waiver for Individuals Age 65 or Older) — participant-directed Personal Attendant Services; for a parent currently in a facility, the New Choices Waiver, run by Utah Department of Health and Human Services — Medicaid (Division of Integrated Healthcare) with the Division of Aging and Adult Services as operating agency; intake runs through Utah's 10 Area Agencies on Aging. Pay: Aging Waiver, participant-employed Personal Attendant Services (code S5125): $5.92 per 15-minute unit, which works out to $23.68/hr. That comes from Utah Medicaid's official Aging Waiver rate sheet marked effective January 1, 2026, linked straight from the Aging Waiver program page. Note this went up mid-year: the rate was $4.62 per 15 minutes ($18.48/hr) from 7/1/2023, and Utah's own rate analysis still showed $18.48/hr as of 7/1/2025, so any guide still quoting $18.48 is using last year's number. If your parent goes through an agency instead of hiring you directly, the agency-based rate (T1019) is $7.17 per 15 minutes = $28.68/hr. New Choices Waiver personal care (S5125): $30.00/hr effective 7/1/2025, per Utah Medicaid's Access Rule Comparative Payment Rate Analysis dated 6/24/2026; the older $21.28/hr figure comes from a 2022 sheet and is no longer current. One thing to be clear about, because it catches people: every figure above is the maximum Medicaid will PAY for the service, not what lands in your pocket. Your actual W-2 wage is set by the program's fiscal/employer agent after employer payroll taxes and administrative costs come out of that rate, so plan on meaningfully less per hour. Ask the fiscal agent for the exact hourly wage in writing before you count on any number.

One or more details on this page could not be fully confirmed against official sources at publish time — confirm specifics with the agency below.

Who can be the paid caregiver

Under the Aging Waiver's participant-directed option the parent hires the caregiver of their choice, including adult children, other relatives, and friends — the state's rate sheet even has a separate line item for 'Personal Attendant Service - Participant Employed,' which is the code you get paid under. Under the New Choices Waiver an adult child can be paid for personal care and homemaker services as long as they are not the parent's legal guardian. Be careful with the guardian rule, because it is program-by-program rather than one statewide ban: Utah's EPAS program explicitly says the paid assistant may not be a legal guardian, the guardian restriction on New Choices is reported by the American Council on Aging but is not spelled out in a public state document, and Utah's DSPD Caregiver Compensation program goes the other way and pays parents, step-parents, legal guardians, and spouses outright. If you are your parent's guardian, ask the case manager about your specific waiver before assuming either answer. Caregivers must pass program screening and be employed either directly by your parent through the fiscal/employer agent or by an enrolled Medicaid agency.

The spouse question

Yes, but narrowly. Utah SB 63 (2021) and Utah Admin Code R414-523 created Spousal Caregiver Compensation for the HCBS waivers serving people 65 and older, people with intellectual or physical disabilities, and people with acquired brain injury. The spouse must provide "extraordinary care" — care beyond what a spouse would ordinarily do for someone the same age without a disability — and all four of the rule's conditions have to be met: your parent must choose the spouse and the care planning team must support that choice; the spouse cannot also be the one directing your parent's services (you cannot be both the decision-maker and the paid worker); the spouse agrees to provide no more than what the care or service plan approves; and the spouse must actually be able to meet your parent's needs — the rule gives the example of specialized training such as a nursing license, or the Department deciding the spouse can safely handle the health and safety needs. That last one is the condition families most often get tripped up by. Approval is case-by-case, so confirm with the waiver case manager before counting on it. (Utah's EPAS program, by contrast, flatly excludes spouses and legal guardians.)

Waitlist reality

Real waitlists. The Aging Waiver is capped at 550 people per year (500 served at any one time) and keeps a formal "Applicant List" ranked by a risk-screening score, not first-come-first-served — waits of months are common and depend on your area and urgency score. The New Choices Waiver is capped around 2,500 and only accepts people already living in a facility (90+ days in a Medicaid nursing home, or 365+ days in assisted living/Type N facility); waitlists can form when slots fill. Utah's regular State Plan Personal Care Services has no waitlist but is agency-based and does not pay family members.

Worth knowing: Disqualifiers: the paid family caregiver generally may not be the parent's legal guardian on the aging-related waivers; the parent must need nursing-facility level of care AND meet Medicaid long-term-care financial limits ($2,000 countable assets for a single person; income limits conflict across sources — the American Council on Aging lists $1,330/mo for the Aging Waiver (eff. 3/1/26) but $2,982/mo for New Choices, and Givers cites $2,982/mo — so confirm your parent's actual limit with Utah Medicaid eligibility at 1-866-435-7414 before assuming they qualify or don't). Rates here are current as of the January 1, 2026 Aging Waiver rate sheet and the state's 7/1/2025 rate analysis for New Choices; Utah raised the Aging Waiver attendant rate in the middle of the fiscal year, so check the rate sheet on medicaid.utah.gov/ltc-2/ag/ rather than trusting an older guide. Spousal 'extraordinary care' compensation is real and written into Utah law and rule (SB 63 of 2021, Utah Admin Code R414-523), and the rule's conditions are specific — but approval is still case-by-case through the care planning team, so treat spouse pay as possible-with-conditions, not promised. New Choices Waiver has a hard gate people miss: you cannot apply from home; the parent must already be in a qualifying facility (90+ days in a nursing home, 365+ days in assisted living or a Type N facility). Aging Waiver slots are scarce — 550 people per year, 500 at any one time statewide, ranked by a risk score rather than by who applied first — so apply early and line up the VA and Alternatives Program options at the same time. Finally, every rate quoted is what Medicaid pays per unit of service; the family caregiver's actual W-2 wage after employer taxes and fiscal-agent costs is lower, so ask the fiscal agent for the net wage.

Other doors in Utah

ProgramWhat to know
New Choices WaiverUtah's second door: for people already in a nursing home 90+ days or assisted living 365+ days who want to move home. Family (non-guardian) can be the paid attendant; some spousal cases possible. Apply: 800-662-9651 opt 6.
Alternatives Program (state-funded, non-Medicaid)DHHS Aging and Adult Services in-home services via AAAs for adults 18+ at risk of nursing home placement; income limit ~150% FPL. Whether family can be the paid worker varies by AAA — could not be confirmed; ask when you call. No Medicaid enrollment required.
Veteran-Directed Care (VA Salt Lake City Health Care System)Available in Utah, operated with Area Agencies on Aging (e.g., Weber Human Services). Veteran gets a flexible budget and can hire family, including a spouse. Ask the VA social worker or call VA SLC Caregiver Support.
VA Aid & Attendance + PCAFCAid & Attendance pension supplement can informally fund family care for wartime veterans/surviving spouses; PCAFC pays a monthly stipend (including to spouses) for eligible veterans. Utah Dept. of Veterans & Military Affairs: 801-326-2372.
DSPD Caregiver CompensationPays family (including some spouses/parents) on DSPD disability waivers — relevant only if the person needing care is on a Services for People with Disabilities waiver, not the typical aging-parent path. dspd.utah.gov/caregiver-compensation.
No structured family caregiving modelUtah has no Georgia/Indiana-style per-diem structured family caregiving benefit; payment is hourly through the waivers above.

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. 1. Call your local Area Agency on Aging (find yours at daas.utah.gov/locations/ or call the Division of Aging and Adult Services, 801-538-3910) and ask for an Aging Waiver intake and risk screening for your parent (must be 65+).
  2. 2. Complete the Demographic Intake and Risk Screening form; your parent is placed on the Applicant List, ranked by urgency and risk — ask where they stand and how long typical waits are in your county.
  3. 3. When a slot opens, an MDS-HC assessment confirms nursing-facility level of care within 30 days; at the same time file the Medicaid financial application (eligibility questions: 1-866-435-7414).
  4. 4. In care planning, choose the participant-directed Personal Attendant Services option and name yourself as the employee; you enroll and get paid through the program's fiscal/employer agent after background screening.
  5. 5. If your parent is already in a nursing home (90+ days) or assisted living (365+ days), skip to the New Choices Waiver instead: 800-662-9651 option 6 (Salt Lake area 801-538-6155 option 6) or apply online via the PRISM/UtahID portal.
  6. 6. If your parent is a wartime veteran or surviving spouse, also ask VA Salt Lake City about Veteran-Directed Care and Aid & Attendance in parallel — no Medicaid required.

Where to start: Your local Area Agency on Aging — directory at daas.utah.gov/locations/; Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services 801-538-3910. New Choices Waiver program office: 800-662-9651, option 6.

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.

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Sources & dates checked: Program rules and payment rates change. Everything here is educational — real eligibility is decided by the agencies, based on your family's details.