How to Change Your Home Care Agency

You don’t have to stay with a home care agency that isn’t working. If your calls go unanswered, your caregiver’s paychecks are late, your loved one’s care plan isn’t being followed, or the agency simply isn’t delivering what they promised — you have the right to switch. In every state CareChoice operates in, Medicaid home care participants can change their home care agency without losing their authorized services, their care plan, or their benefits.

The process is simpler than most families expect. Here’s how it works.

Your Right to Switch Is Absolute

This is the most important thing to understand: you are not locked in. Medicaid home care is nota cell phone contract. There is no cancellation penalty, no waiting period, and no requirement to give a reason. Your loved one chose their current agency, and they can un-choose it at any time.

In Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, and Florida, Medicaid participants have the legal right to select their home care provider. If the current provider isn’t meeting your family’s needs, you can transfer to a different agency — one that’s credentialed with your MCO or program — and your authorized services continue uninterrupted.

In our experience at CareChoice, the families who hesitate longest to switch are the ones who assume the process will be complicated or that they’ll lose their hours. Neither is true. Your care plan and your authorized hours belong to your loved one, not to the agency. When you switch, the hours come with you.

Step 1: Identify What’s Not Working

Before you switch, get clear on the problem — because it determines whether a new agency will actually solve it.

Agency responsiveness. Calls not returned. Questions unanswered. Problems unresolved for weeks. This is an agency problem, and switching fixes it.

Caregiver quality or consistency. The agency sends a different person every week, or the person they send doesn’t meet your family’s needs. A new agency with better vetting, training, or matching may provide a better experience. If your family wants a relative to be the caregiver and the current agency doesn’t support Participant-Directed Services, switching to one that does —like CareChoice — changes the entire care dynamic.

Payroll and administrative problems. Paychecks are late, incorrect, or missing. Tax documents aren’t provided on time. Background check processing drags for months. These are back-office failures, and a well-run agency eliminates them.

Hours or services seem insufficient. This may or may not be the agency’s fault. If the MCO authorized limited hours and the agency is delivering what’s authorized, switching agencies won’t increase the hours — you’d need to
request a reassessment or appeal. But if the agency isn’t delivering the hours that were authorized, that’s an agency problem.

Communication and cultural fit. The agency doesn’t understand your family’s language, cultural practices, or preferences. A different agency with deeper community connections may serve your family better.

Step 2: Contact Your MCO or Program Coordinator

The entity that manages your loved one’s care plan is the one that facilitates the switch. In most cases, this is the Managed Care Organization.

In Pennsylvania (CHC): Contact your MCO —AmeriHealth Caritas, Keystone First CHC, PA Health & Wellness, or UPMC CHC— and tell the service coordinator you want to change your home care agency. The coordinator will provide a list of credentialed agencies in your area and help facilitate the transition.

In Michigan (Home Help): Contact your local MDHHS office. If you’re switching from an agency-based arrangement to a family member as your Individual Home Help Provider (or vice versa), the MDHHS caseworker manages the transition. For MI Choice, contact the DAAA or your supports coordinator.

In Texas (STAR+PLUS): Contact your MCO and tell the service coordinator you want to change providers. If you’re switching to Consumer Directed Services from agency care (or switching your FMSA), the coordinator facilitates the change.

In Florida (SMMC LTC): Contact your managed care plan’s case manager and request a provider change.

Step 3: Choose Your New Agency

This is where the switch becomes an upgrade — not just a lateral move. When choosing your new agency, use the same evaluation checklist you’d use if you were starting from scratch. But now you have something you didn’t have before: you know exactly what went wrong with the last agency. Use that experience to ask sharper questions.

If your old agency was unresponsive, ask the new one: “Who is my point of contact and what’s their response time commitment?” If payroll was the problem, ask: “What’s your average time from enrollment to first paycheck, and what happens if a check is late?” If your family wants a relative to be the paid caregiver and the old agency didn’t support it, confirm the new agency facilitates
Participant-Directed Services or CDS as a core competency.

Step 4: Transition Without a Gap

The most common fear families have about switching is a gap in services — a period where the old agency has stopped providing care but the new agency hasn’t started. In our experience, this fear is manageable with proper coordination.

Tell the old agency your transition date. You don’t need to give extensive notice, but coordinating an end date prevents confusion.

Confirm your start date with the new agency. The new agency should be able to tell you exactly when services will begin. At CareChoice, we work to start services on the same day or within days of the old agency’s last day — no gap.

Keep the MCO/coordinator in the loop. The service coordinator or case manager ensures the care plan transfers cleanly to the new agency. The authorized services and hours don’t change —only the provider delivering them.

If your family member is the caregiver through PDS/CDS: The transition may involve moving the caregiver’s employment from one Agency with Choice or FMSA to another. This can take a few weeks for administrative processing. In our experience, we can often start the new enrollment process before the old arrangement formally ends, minimizing any paycheck gap.

Step 5: Confirm Everything Is Working

After the switch, verify that services are being delivered according to the care plan, paychecks are arriving on schedule (if using PDS/CDS), the new agency’s communication meets your expectations, and the MCO/coordinator has updated their records to reflect the new provider.

If something isn’t right in the first two weeks, address it immediately. A good agency will be especially attentive during the transition period because they know first impressions matter.

Why Families Switch to CareChoice

The most common reasons families transfer their services to CareChoice: their previous agency didn’t support paid family caregiving (PDS/AWC in PA, CDS in TX), their previous agency had chronic payroll or administrative problems, they wanted an agency with deeper local knowledge and community connections, or they needed an agency that operates across multiple markets for family members in different states.

We don’t require you to start from scratch. If your loved one already has an active care plan with authorized hours, CareChoice can step in as the new provider — often within a week of your first call.

Ready to switch? →Contact CareChoice

Written by Gary Murray, Chief Marketing Officer | CareChoice

How to Change Your Home Care Agency: A Step-by-Step Guide