Starting September 1, 2025, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is retiring the Attendant Compensation Rate Enhancement (ARE) program. In its place, all PAS agencies will receive standardized reimbursement rates—at least on paper. Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) have historically set their rates using their own methodology, which has sometimes led to agencies receiving different reimbursement amounts for the same services. MCOs have also been given the option to continue with the ARE programs on their own, so we will have to wait a while to see how this gets implemented. Only time will tell how the MCOs will implement these changes and how PAS agencies will be affected.
We have created a one-page summary showing a few of the most used programs and services, the new reimbursement rates for each, and a breakdown showing the difference between the minimum and maximum hourly pay rates for attendants. We set the maximum hourly pay rates to exclude the A&G overhead portion, which is designed for agencies to use to administer their programs and pay for their office staff and overhead.
You can find the pdf of the worksheet here.
Trying to “out-pay” your competitors is not the only way for agencies to compete for attendants and clients. We have discussed this in previous blog posts, and we still believe that offering a comprehensive pay and benefits package to your attendants, and office and field staff as well, is crucial for agencies to be able to compete in today’s market. The column on the worksheet titled “ATTN Cost Area – Total Hourly Payroll Cost” shows how much per unit of service will be left over to an agency that is paying the $13 minimum hourly pay rate. Agencies have plenty of options to try to set themselves apart from their competitors, and now TX HHSC has provided enough funding by way of per unit reimbursement for agencies to get creative on ways to accomplish this.
Visit our website and get to know Advantage and get in touch with us to see how we can help you with your everyday business processes, and also help you stand apart from other agencies.