Consumer Directed Services in Chesterfield, Missouri

Communicare Elite provides MO HealthNet Consumer Directed Services to residents of Chesterfield and the surrounding west 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 Chesterfield

Chesterfield’s housing is newer and generally more accessible than the inner-ring suburbs — more ranch plans, wider doorways, main-floor primary bedrooms. The barrier here is rarely the building. It is isolation and distance: large lots, few sidewalks, no practical public transport, and a layout that assumes everyone drives.

When driving stops being safe, a Chesterfield address becomes genuinely restrictive in a way a city address does not. Essential transportation is one of the tasks a CDS care plan can authorize, and in west county it is often the one that restores the most independence — groceries, St. Luke’s Hospital, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, the specialists along Olive. The other west-county consideration is recruitment: attendants who live nearby are the ones who turn up in an ice storm, so it is worth thinking about where your candidate actually lives.

How CDS works for Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield

If you already help a parent, an adult child, a sibling or a friend in Chesterfield, 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 25 minutes from Chesterfield. Most business is handled by phone, but you are welcome at the office; call ahead so someone is expecting you.

Questions from Chesterfield families

I stopped driving last year. Can an attendant drive me?

Essential transportation — medical appointments, groceries and errands, school or employment — is one of the authorized task categories. Raise it specifically at your assessment.

Can my attendant use my car, or do they need their own?

That is an arrangement between you as the employer and your attendant. Whoever drives needs a valid license and appropriate insurance.

Is it harder to find an attendant in west county?

It can be, simply because of distance. Hiring someone who already lives nearby — a neighbor, a family member, someone from your congregation — is usually more durable than hiring across the county.

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