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New Wage Increases Available for Some Home Care Workers – Key Deadlines Ahead

Amy E. Lowenstein

Some home care workers in Pennsylvania are now eligible for hourly wage increases of up to 9%, retroactive to January 1, 2026. The raises, funded by a $21 million allocation in Pennsylvania's 2025-26 state budget, apply to workers employed by Medicaid recipients in the Community HealthChoices (CHC) Waiver, OBRA Waiver, and Act 150 Program who direct their own care. However, the Office of Long Term Living (OLTL) has indicated that the 9% increase includes employer-side payroll costs, so the actual increase in a worker’s take-home pay will be somewhat lower.

 

How the increases work depends on your program

Participant-directed workers in the OBRA Waiver and Act 150 Program will automatically receive the maximum available pay increase for their region, retroactive to January 1, 2026. The participant-employer may opt out or select a different rate by April 10, 2026.

Workers in the CHC Waiver will not automatically receive a pay increase.  Instead, the participant-employer must submit a rate change form to Tempus, the payroll administrator, for each worker. The form must specify either the desired wage increase or request the maximum hourly rate.  While pay increase may be submitted at any time, requests must be submitted by May 8, 2026, to ensure the increase is applied retroactively to January 1, 2026.

 

Maximum rates vary by managed care plan

Maximum wage rates continue to vary by geographic region.  However, for the first time, maximum rates also differ depending on the managed care plan in which a CHC participant is enrolled.  Among CHC plans, AmeriHealth Caritas is offering the lowest hourly rates across the three regions it covers, while Pennsylvania Health & Wellness offers the highest rate in all four regions.  The largest disparity appears in Region 2 (covering most northwest, northcentral and northeast counties) where AmeriHealth Caritas’ maximum hourly rate is $2.83 less than UPMC’s and $3.66 less than PA Health and Wellness’s.

max pay rates chc
Table 1. Comparison of maximum hourly pay rates across 4 regions in Pennsylvania

Published pay rates reflect the maximum rate a first-time participant-employer can pay their workers.  For experienced employers, the maximum rate may vary based on their unemployment compensation costs. 

 

How to request a pay increase

CHC participants who direct their own care should have received information from Tempus about requesting pay increases.  This information can also be accessed on Tempus’ website.