Health
The move is projected to save about 18,000 health care professionals $5,000 or more per year.
Live-in personal care attendants who assist people with disabilities in Massachusetts will no longer have to pay state or federal income taxes, Gov. Maura Healey announced Monday.
The move is projected to save about 18,000 health care professionals $5,000 or more per year, the governor’s office said in a news release. The exemptions apply to PCAs who live in the same home as the person they assist, providing day-to-day help with tasks like bathing and dressing.
“Personal Care Attendants do incredibly challenging work to care for the most vulnerable among us, and they shouldn’t have to also worry about being able to afford to meet their own basic needs,” Healey said in a statement. “We want highly qualified, dedicated individuals to pursue and stay in careers as PCAs, but they need to be able to afford to do so.”
State officials previously asked the Internal Revenue Service to confirm that wages earned by live-in PCAs for MassHealth-covered services qualify for a federal income tax exemption aimed at caregivers paid through Medicaid. Massachusetts’ PCA program is funded through MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid system.
Approximately 60,000 people are employed as PCAs through the MassHealth program, providing care to more than 50,000 MassHealth members with disabilities, according to the governor’s office.
“This exemption brings substantial tax relief for trained live-in friends and family members who are providing crucial health care services for MassHealth members with disabilities,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Kiame Mahaniah, former chair of the state’s PCA Workforce Council.
PCA pay rates start around $20 per hour, and in recent years, the state has sometimes struggled to meet demand for personal care attendant services.
“I am deeply grateful to my PCAs, whose support allows me to live independently and fully within my community,” said Tamara Huntley, a PCA Workforce Council member and self-advocacy liaison with the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council.
In a statement, Huntley added: “These efforts will make it easier to find and employ PCAs, building a stronger workforce and a better future across the Commonwealth.”
Fellow PCA Workforce Council member Karen Bureau concurred.
“I have been utilizing PCA services for 38 years and in that time, I was able to attend college, work full time and be a contributing member of my community,” Bureau explained in a statement. “This new ruling will ensure additional access to PCAs in a time of a national shortage of home care workers!”
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