My Parent Has Medicaid. What Home Help Can They Get in Texas?

Having Medicaid does not automatically tell a family which in-home services are available. The answer may depend on the person’s program, managed care plan, functional needs, service plan, and whether the help is being delivered through PHC, CAS, Family Care, STAR+PLUS, Community First Choice, or another LTSS pathway.

Planned Personal Assistance Services only; license pending.

Start with the real question

What is getting hard at home?

Personal routines

Bathing, dressing, toileting, grooming, eating, walking, or transferring may point toward personal assistance or attendant services when the person is eligible and the task is authorized.

Household routines

Meal preparation, housekeeping, laundry, shopping, and escort can appear in Texas attendant-service programs when included in the authorized plan.

Caregiver coverage

If family members are carrying most of the work, ask whether respite, PAS, PCS, CFC PAS/HAB, PHC, CAS, STAR+PLUS LTSS, or another covered support applies to the person’s situation.

The acronyms in plain English

Medicaid is the umbrella. The program tells you the route.

PHC means Primary Home Care. CAS means Community Attendant Services. FC means Family Care. STAR+PLUS is Texas Medicaid managed care for many adults who are older or have disabilities. CFC means Community First Choice. PAS means Personal Assistance Services, and LTSS means Long-Term Services and Supports.

Those names can overlap around similar daily-living needs, but eligibility, assessment, hours, and provider rules are not identical.

Do not assume “Medicaid” means one home-care benefit. Ask for the exact program name, the MCO name if there is one, the service coordinator or case manager, and the current authorized service plan.

Who to contact first

Use the card, letter, or plan the family already has

If the person has STAR+PLUS

Call the managed care organization and ask for the member’s service coordinator. Texas requires service coordination for LTSS members, and the MCO coordinates the ISP and authorized services.

If PHC, CAS, or Family Care is mentioned

Ask the caseworker or program contact which attendant services are authorized, what the task plan includes, and how provider choice works.

If nobody knows the program

Start by identifying the Medicaid plan name, any HHSC letters, the person’s current provider, and whether anyone has completed a recent functional or LTSS assessment.

Questions worth asking

Five questions that usually move the conversation forward

What exact Medicaid program or LTSS service is this person enrolled in?
Which daily tasks are currently authorized, and for how many hours?
Is the service delivered through Agency Option, CDS, or SRO?
Who is the MCO service coordinator, case manager, or other person responsible for the plan?
Which contracted providers serve the person’s county or ZIP code?

For the technical side, see our Texas PHC & STAR+PLUS guide, personal-attendant task guide, and CDS vs Agency Option vs SRO guide.

Valiynt’s current status: Valiynt is preparing for Texas HCSSA Personal Assistance Services licensure. We are not yet licensed, enrolled with Texas Medicaid, contracted for PHC/CAS/FC, or credentialed with STAR+PLUS MCOs. This page is educational navigation, not a statement of current participation.

Turn “my parent has Medicaid” into a clearer next step

Start with the actual need, then identify the program

Use the care-navigation library to translate the family’s daily problem into the right questions for HHSC, the MCO, the case manager, or a future provider.

Texas Care Navigation Home Support Checklist