Frequently Asked Questions

Personal Assistance Services (PAS) are services that another person provides to a person with a disability. These services can include help with:

• Home activities, such as bathing, dressing, cooking, toileting, and remembering things
• Community activities, such as shopping, going to the doctor, and getting around
• Work activities, such as reading, sign-language interpretation, and lifting or reaching

Personal Assistance Services can allow you to live your day-to-day life.

Depending on your situation, you may be able to get public funding for Personal Assistance Services (PAS) through one of Georgia’s four Medicaid waiver programs.

Medicaid waiver programs offer services to people with disabilities to help them live in a home or apartment in the community instead of in an institution. You may qualify if you have low income, have low resources, and need an extra level of care and more services than regular Medicaid provides. Personal Assistance Services, also called Personal Support Services and Community Living Support, may be one of the services provided by your waiver program.

Note: Children under 21 who have regular Medicaid can have PAS covered by their plan, and do not need a waiver.

Learn more about how to qualify and apply for a waiver program.

If you are 60 or older, you may qualify for non-Medicaid Home and Community Based Services from Georgia’s Division of Aging Services, even if you do not qualify for a Medicaid waiver. These services can include personal care assistance, like help with bathing, eating, and light housekeeping; home-delivered meals; and transportation. To learn more, contact your local Area Agency on Aging.

If you get Personal Assistance Services (PAS) through a Medicaid waiver program, your Personal Care Assistant may help you with things like:

• Personal care services, such as eating, bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, walking or using a wheelchair, using a phone, and help with medications
• Domestic services, such as sweeping, vacuuming, taking out the garbage, wheelchair cleaning and battery recharging, and changing bed linens
• Related services, such as meal preparation, clean-up, laundry, and shopping
• Limited heavy cleaning, such as mopping floors

To hire a Personal Care Assistant (PCA), you can contact a Personal Assistance Services (PAS) agency. The agency will find an appropriate PCA that will help you with your specific needs. You can also tell the agency some preferences you have, like a female assistant or one who speaks Spanish, and the agency can find somebody who has those qualifications.

If you are getting your services through a Medicaid waiver program, your case manager can work with the PAS agency for you.

You can also ask for personal assistance from friends, neighbors, relatives, or other PCAs who are recommended to you or who you find online.

Yes, in most cases you can hire relatives, friends, neighbors, and other people you know to provide you with Personal Assistance Services (PAS).

If Medicaid is paying for your PAS through a Medicaid waiver program, they may or may not pay a family member to be your PCA. It depends on the family member, your situation, and which waiver you have. Generally speaking, legal guardians, like spouses and parents of minor children, cannot be paid to be PCAs, but there are some exceptions to this rule. Read more about when Medicaid may pay a family member to be your PCA.

Your responsibilities with your Personal Care Assistant (PCA) depend on how the PCA is hired and who is paying for them. At a minimum, you (or your representative) will need to supervise your PCA and make sure that they are correctly doing the tasks you need them to do.

If you hire your PCA yourself without going through an agency, you’ll be responsible for things like:

• Creating the PCA’s schedule
• Making a backup plan if the PCA can’t come as planned
• Training your PCA
• Firing your PCA if you are not satisfied with their work

If you hire a PCA through an agency, or if your case manager hires your PCA through an agency for you, the agency will take care of most of these things for you.

If your PCA is funded by a Medicaid waiver program, you won’t have to worry about handling the PCA’s paycheck or doing tax withholding, because Medicaid will do that for you. If you don’t get Medicaid funding or go through an agency, you will have to do it yourself.

The number of hours of Personal Assistance Services (PAS) that people need is different from person to person. Some people need a few hours a week, while others need many more. If you get funding through a Medicaid waiver program, Medicaid will evaluate your situation and decide how many hours it will pay for each week. If you want more hours than that, you will have to pay for the services yourself.

Yes, Personal Assistance Services (PAS) can be used at work if they are needed as a reasonable accommodation because of your disability.

If the PAS you need are related to your job duties, your employer will usually pay for them. For example, you may need:

• A sign-language interpreter if you are deaf
• Help with arranging work-related travel
• Real-time captioning during a meeting

If the PAS are not related to your job duties—for example, transportation to and from work or personal care services during your lunch break—your employer usually will not pay for them.

You also may be able to get funding from the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) for a limited time if you need PAS to find and maintain a job.

Under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), your employer must provide you with a reasonable accommodation if you need one to do your job. However, your employer does not need to provide the exact accommodation you request. If you request PAS, your employer could provide a different accommodation instead.

Note: The ADA only applies to employers with 15 or more employees.