Sponsors Seek Compensation for PCAs Providing Queuing and Supervision Tasks
Summary
Representative O'Day and other sponsors pressed the committee to consider House 277 to compensate personal care attendants for queuing and supervision tasks that help beneficiaries remain at home and avoid institutional care.
Representative Jim O'Day and other sponsors asked the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities to support House 277, which would compensate personal care attendants (PCAs) for queuing and supervision tasks that help beneficiaries live at home.
O'Day said PCAs routinely prompt clients to take medications, eat, or perform daily tasks and that current payment rules do not compensate attendants for that work. "They're doing it without hesitation. And they're just not being compensated," she said, arguing that paying for these activities could prevent costly institutional placements and better support community living.
The representative acknowledged MassHealth's budgetary constraints but urged the committee to weigh the cost of compensating PCAs against the higher costs of institutional care or avoidable hospitalizations. Testimony described the proposed change as an effort to align compensation with common PCA practice and support independence and long-term community placement.
The committee did not take formal action; sponsors asked lawmakers to consider the proposal alongside MassHealth budgeting and workforce policy.
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