More About Home Care

Rick Perry loves the part of Obamacare Peggy Noonan hates

Ezra Klein, The Washington Post - August 22, 2013

Another followup on the Community First Choice component of the Affordable Care Act, from the "Wonkblog" …

"The program is so irresistible that even Texas Gov. Rick Perry is asking if his state can be part of it."

There's one aspect I'm still not clear about. From what I've read so far, Community First Choice will fund home care that is provided for pay by family members, but will require there to be a third-party involved who isn't a family member in order to guard against conflict of interest. That seems to be the case when the person with a disability is severely cognitively impaired and has a guardian. But what about the majority of home care users who make their own decisions? Will they have to have a third-party manager or watchdog if they want to hire their mother, father, sister, brother or spouse? Personally, I think it's a good idea, but I don't think it should be required. I've known people who are fine with everyday direction of their own care, but frankly could use some help and support to deal with really tricky personnel or administrative problems. I've also known plenty of home care users who are more than capable of running their own show, and dealing with whatever problems arise.