Consumer Directed Services in O’Fallon, Missouri

Communicare Elite provides MO HealthNet Consumer Directed Services to residents of O’Fallon and the surrounding St. Charles 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 O’Fallon

O’Fallon is the largest city in St. Charles County and among the largest in Missouri, and it has been one of the fastest-growing places in the state for thirty years. That growth brought a lot of families at once, and it is bringing a lot of them into later life at once too.

Two things follow from being this far west. The first is that home care supply is thinner than it is inside I-270 — agencies staff the core of the region first. The second is that the community is unusually well networked: churches, veterans’ organizations, school and neighborhood ties run deep here. In a consumer-directed program that second fact outweighs the first, because your attendant does not come from an agency roster. They come from the people you already know, and O’Fallon families usually know somebody.

How CDS works for O’Fallon 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 O’Fallon

If you already help a parent, an adult child, a sibling or a friend in O’Fallon, 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 about 30 minutes from O’Fallon. Most business is handled by phone, but you are welcome at the office; call ahead so someone is expecting you.

Questions from O’Fallon families

Is O’Fallon, Missouri within your area? I have seen O’Fallon, Illinois listed elsewhere.

O’Fallon, Missouri — yes. O’Fallon, Illinois — no. We serve Missouri only, because CDS is a Missouri Medicaid program.

Are there enough attendants out here?

In this program you supply the person, usually someone you already know. That is a real advantage in fast-growing western communities where agency staffing is stretched.

Do you cover Lake Saint Louis and Dardenne Prairie?

Yes — both are 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 · St. Louis County · Florissant · Ferguson · Hazelwood · Bridgeton · Maryland Heights · University City · Kirkwood · Chesterfield · Arnold · Festus · St. Charles · St. Peters · Wentzville