Medicaid Certification Training
Medicaid Certification Training Online for In-Home Caregivers and Home Health Aides
Simplifying Medicaid Certification Training and the Renewal Process
What are the training requirements to work for a Medicaid home care agency?
Caregiver training varies based on the state you will be working in and the type of company you will be working for, as the care needs also will be different when working for someone who receives Medicaid benefits.
Medicaid Agencies May Subscribe to Caregiverlist Medicaid Training
Medicaid Training 101:
Medicaid provides seniors and the disabled with care services, including in-home caregiving services as part of the community care programs in each state. As Medicaid services are for low-income Americans, an individual, including seniors, must qualify for services by meeting financial requirements. Seniors will qualify for Medicaid if they have low monthly income and few to no assets. Once a senior qualifies for Medicaid services, they may be approved for in-home care services provided by a certified home health aide, or caregiver. Medicaid home care programs usually use the terminology "home health aide", or HHA to identify a caregiver who has been trained to meet the Medicaid caregiving services skills and follow state laws for identifying and reporting abuse or neglect.
Become a trained home health aide or direct care worker by taking an Online Medicaid Caregiver Training Course. By learning caregiving skills, you may then become hired as a caregiver to care for others, including family members receiving Medicaid home care services.
While Medicaid rules vary in each state of the U.S.A., most states will have a minimum training requirement of at least 12 hours for their Medicaid caregiver program. They will also require annual recertification training for Medicaid home health aides. Every industry has different terminology for different workers and just as in the hospital you will have a Registered Nurse and then Licensed Practical Nurses and Certified Nursing Aides, for Medicaid care, the trained caregivers have specific names that will match the Medicaid certification training.
Medicaid Certified Caregiver Title Examples (Caregiver Job Titles Match State Mandates):
- DCW for Direct Care Worker
- PCA for Personal Care Aide
- HCA for Home Care Aide
- PCS for Personal Care Services
- PCW for Personal Care Worker
- DCA for Direct Care Associates
- DSW for Direct Service Worker
- HSW for Home Services Worker
For example, a caregiver working for a Medicaid home care agency in Louisiana would be required to be trained as a Louisiana DSW.
Medicaid Home Health Aides are usually required to be more detailed in care notes and reporting their hours for payroll as Medicaid programs are reimbursed by state governments who have systems in place to protect the seniors and disabled receiving services. Because of this, the direct care workers are required to be trained annually, or "recertified" to make sure they are maintaining their capabilities to be a home services worker.
Direct care or personal care are common terms used because the caregivers are going into homes to provide assistance with daily activities.
Medicaid rules will allow for family members to become a certified personal care aide, however, they will still be required to meet employment guidelines by passing a background check and following a regular care schedule.
Remember, Medicaid senior home care services require home health aide care workers to be trained in the topics mandated by each state's law as Medicaid home care services are regulated by both state and federal laws. This means if you move to a new state, you will need to be trained again. Illinois, for example, requires about 24 hours of training for new caregivers and New Jersey requires more than 60 hours of training to become a Certified Home Health Aide or CHHA. Other states such as Arkansas and Indiana require 12 hours of training annually for personal care workers.
Medicaid certification training requires caregivers to obtain annual renewal training by taking a training course each year. For more information about the caregiving role, read through our article on how to become a caregiver.
