Consumer Directed Services in Arnold, Missouri

Communicare Elite provides MO HealthNet Consumer Directed Services to residents of Arnold and the surrounding Jefferson 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 Arnold

Arnold sits at the top of Jefferson County where I-55 crosses the Meramec, and it functions as the county’s front door to St. Louis. It has grown steadily for decades, and a good deal of that growth was young families buying affordable houses in the 1970s and 80s — those same households are now reaching the age where help at home becomes the question.

Jefferson County has fewer home care options than St. Louis County, and that shortage is exactly why the consumer-directed model works well here. You are not waiting for an agency to have staff available in your area; you hire someone you already know, from your own community, and we employ and pay them. Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City and the St. Louis hospitals up I-55 are both reachable, and transportation is frequently a significant part of an Arnold care plan.

How CDS works for Arnold 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 Arnold

If you already help a parent, an adult child, a sibling or a friend in Arnold, 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 35 minutes from Arnold. Most business is handled by phone, but you are welcome at the office; call ahead so someone is expecting you.

Questions from Arnold families

Is Jefferson County within your service area?

Yes. Arnold and the northern half of Jefferson County are comfortably within about 40 miles of our office.

There are not many home care agencies down here. Does CDS work differently?

It does, and that is an advantage locally. You supply the person — a relative, a neighbor, a friend — rather than depending on an agency having staff free in your area.

How far do I have to travel to deal with paperwork?

Rarely at all. Most of it is handled by phone and post. Call (314) 809-6655 and we will tell you what actually requires a visit.

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 · Festus · St. Charles · St. Peters · O’Fallon · Wentzville