Consumer Directed Services in St. Louis County, Missouri

Communicare Elite provides MO HealthNet Consumer Directed Services to residents of St. Louis County and the surrounding St. Louis County area. If you are eligible, you choose your own personal care attendant — including a family member other than your spouse — and we handle payroll, program paperwork and Medicaid billing.

Why home care matters in St. Louis County

St. Louis County is not one place. It is 88 municipalities and roughly a million people spread from Lemay to Wildwood, and the practical experience of needing home care differs enormously across it. In the older inner-ring suburbs — Overland, Normandy, Jennings, Berkeley — the housing is small, affordable and often has a basement laundry and a step at every door. In the western county the houses are newer and more accessible but the distances are longer, which makes finding a reliable attendant nearby the harder problem.

Our office sits in the county’s northern half, on Woodson Road minutes from Lambert International Airport, which puts us close to the North County communities where demand is heaviest and makes the rest of the county an easy drive. Because CDS attendants are hired locally by the consumer rather than dispatched from a central office, the practical question is rarely how far we are from you — it is whether the person you want to hire lives close enough to show up reliably every day. That is worth thinking about before you choose.

How CDS works for St. Louis County residents

1. Confirm you are likely eligible. You need to be 18 or older, eligible for MO HealthNet, physically disabled, able to direct your own care, and assessed at a nursing facility level of care. Full requirements.
2. Request a state assessment. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services assesses you at home. Their referral line is 866-835-3505.
3. Receive an authorized care plan listing the tasks and hours approved for you. What can be authorized.
4. Choose Communicare Elite as your CDS vendor.
5. Hire your attendant — anyone but your spouse, subject to background screening. How to choose.
6. Work begins. You and your attendant sign biweekly timesheets; we run payroll and bill Medicaid. How pay works.

What your attendant can help with

See the full list of covered tasks →

Getting paid to care for a family member in St. Louis County

If you already help a parent, an adult child, a sibling or a friend in St. Louis County, that work can become paid employment. Missouri law excludes only the consumer’s spouse from being a paid personal care attendant — every other relationship is eligible.

How family caregivers get paid →

Distance from our office

Communicare Elite is at 4477 Woodson Rd, Suite 106, St. Louis, MO 63134, minutes from Lambert International Airport — roughly most of it within 30 minutes from St. Louis County. Most business is handled by phone, but you are welcome at the office; call ahead so someone is expecting you.

Questions from St. Louis County families

Which municipalities do you cover?

All of them, throughout St. Louis County. The county’s 88 municipalities and its unincorporated areas are all within our service area.

Does it matter that my attendant lives 40 minutes away?

Not legally — but practically it matters a great deal. Distance is the most common reason an attendant arrangement quietly falls apart. Someone nearby is more reliable in February than someone across the county.

I live in the county but my family is in the city. Can they be my attendant?

Yes. Neither of you needs to live in a particular place; the consumer needs to be a Missouri resident within our service area.

Does CDS cost me anything?

No. The program is funded by MO HealthNet. You do not pay Communicare Elite and you do not pay your attendant directly.

Can I switch to Communicare Elite from another vendor?

Yes, without reapplying for the program or losing your authorized hours. How switching works.

Nearby communities we also serve

St. Louis City · Florissant · Ferguson · Hazelwood · Bridgeton · Maryland Heights · University City · Kirkwood · Chesterfield · Arnold · Festus · St. Charles · St. Peters · O’Fallon · Wentzville