New Jersey Personal Preference Program: Get Paid To Care For A Family Member

Yes. This is one of the biggest advantages of New Jersey's PPP and where it differs from many other states. New Jersey's official Personal Preference Program FAQ states directly that you may hire your husband, wife, or legal guardian to be your worker. That is different from New York's CDPAP and Pennsylvania's programs, which specifically exclude spouses. In PPP, a wife who is approved for NJ FamilyCare Plan A and PCA services can hire her husband as her paid worker, and he is paid from her Medicaid budget. The one catch is a role rule: the same person cannot be both the paid worker and the member's authorized representative. So if a spouse is going to be paid as the worker, someone else (or the member themselves, if able) must serve as the authorized representative who signs off on timesheets and decisions.

PPP is budget-based, so there is a difference between the reimbursement rate and the worker's actual wage. The Medicaid reimbursement rate that builds the member's monthly budget runs roughly $31 to $47 per hour in 2025 (averaging near $35), but that figure also has to cover employer payroll taxes and workers' comp, so it is not the worker's take-home pay. The member sets and negotiates the worker's actual hourly wage from within their budget, and in practice most PPP workers earn closer to $15 to $20 per hour. The wage must at least meet New Jersey's minimum wage. Workers are W-2 employees, so the Fiscal Intermediary withholds federal and state income tax, Social Security, and Medicare from each paycheck. Because the budget is fixed, paying a higher hourly rate simply means the budget covers fewer total hours.

Plan on a few months from start to finish. If the member is not yet on NJ FamilyCare, the Medicaid application alone can take up to about three months to be fully determined. Once Medicaid is in place, the next step is a home PCA assessment by a registered nurse from your Managed Care Organization, which authorizes your weekly hours - scheduling that visit can take a few weeks. After approval, your Fiscal Intermediary (Palco or PPL) enrolls your worker and a Support Counselor builds your Cash Management Plan before payroll can begin, typically another two to four weeks. You can speed things up by gathering documents in advance: proof of New Jersey residency, identification, Social Security card, and proof of income and assets. Starting the Medicaid application and the PCA assessment as early as possible is the best way to shorten the overall timeline.

None. A major advantage of PPP is that the worker does not need to be a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Home Health Aide (HHA), or any other licensed professional. The member trains their worker on the specific tasks they need help with, since the member knows their own routine best. There are some basic onboarding steps handled through the Fiscal Intermediary - completing federal I-9 employment verification and W-4 tax forms, setting up Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) to record hours, and signing up for direct deposit. A background check on the worker is recommended but not required, and the member can request one. There is no clinical exam or skills test. This makes PPP especially welcoming for family members who have already been caregiving informally and simply want to be paid for that work.

PPP is run by the New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS), through your Medicaid Managed Care Organization. Two Fiscal Intermediaries handle the money side: Palco serves Horizon NJ Health members (1-877-710-0457), and Public Partnerships LLC, or PPL, serves Aetna, Fidelis Care, UnitedHealthcare, and Wellpoint members (1-844-880-8702). The Fiscal Intermediary processes your worker's payroll from your budget, withholds and files employment taxes, provides workers' compensation coverage, and manages timesheets and EVV. It does not choose your worker, set the schedule, or supervise care - those decisions stay with the member. Separately, a Support Counselor from your health plan helps you build your Cash Management Plan and conducts quarterly home visits to review your budget, care plan, and back-up plan.

Yes. The member can hire more than one worker and split their authorized hours however works best - for example, two adult children each covering part of the week, or a spouse handling weekdays and a sibling covering weekends. Each worker enrolls separately with the Fiscal Intermediary and submits their own timesheets, and the member approves each one before payroll runs. Splitting hours across two workers is also a common way to keep any single worker under 40 hours in a week, since the member is the employer of record and is responsible for following federal and New Jersey wage-and-hour rules. All of the workers together are paid from the same monthly budget, so the member plans hours and pay rates to make the budget last through the month. Your Support Counselor can help you map out a schedule that fits your budget.

Start with your Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO). If the member is already on NJ FamilyCare and receiving PCA services, call the MCO and say you want to switch to the Personal Preference Program. If not yet enrolled, first apply for NJ FamilyCare (Plan A) online or through your County Board of Social Services, then request a PCA assessment. A registered nurse visits the home to authorize weekly hours, the MCO enrolls you in PPP and assigns a Fiscal Intermediary (Palco or PPL), and a Support Counselor helps build your Cash Management Plan. For questions along the way, the state PPP Helpline is 609-631-2481, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or email MAHS.PPP@dhs.nj.gov. Horizon NJ Health members can also call the Horizon PPP hotline at 1-855-465-4777.

Joining PPP does not change the member's other NJ FamilyCare benefits - doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions, and other services continue as before. PPP simply replaces agency-delivered personal care with self-directed personal care using the same Medicaid dollars, and the member pays nothing to participate. There is one thing families should keep in mind on the worker's side: the wages a family member earns as a PPP worker count as personal income. If that worker is receiving or applying for other government benefits (such as SSI, SNAP, or subsidized housing), the new income could affect their own eligibility for those programs. It is worth checking how the paycheck interacts with any benefits the worker relies on before they start. The Fiscal Intermediary and your Support Counselor can point you to the right resources for those questions.