Consumer Directed Services in St. Louis County, Missouri

Across St. Louis County, Communicare Elite administers MO HealthNet Consumer Directed Services. Eligible participants hire their own personal care attendant — any relationship except a spouse — while we take on payroll, the 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

The route in is the same across the county: establish MO HealthNet eligibility, ask the Department of Health and Senior Services for an in-home assessment on 866-835-3505, and get your care plan authorized before choosing a vendor. Each step is explained here.

What your attendant can be paid for

What your attendant can be paid to do is set by your authorized plan, covering personal care through to errands and transport. The covered-task list is here.

Paying a family member in St. Louis County

Across the county the commonest route into CDS is a relative who is already helping. Anyone but a spouse can be hired. How that works.

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.

How is CDS different from a home health agency?

An agency sends whoever is on the rota; under CDS you pick the person and direct the work. The differences compared.

What happens if my attendant quits?

You hire a replacement and we set them up on payroll; your authorized hours are unaffected. Choosing an attendant.

Nearby communities we also serve

St. Louis City · Florissant · Kirkwood · Maryland Heights — or see the whole service area.