PCA Program Eligibility and Process

The Personal Care Attendant program is available to people with disabilities who meet the following conditions:

Personal Care Services are prescribed by a physician or nurse practitioner
Have a permanent or chronic disability that impairs their ability to perform activities
of daily living without physical assistance.
Needs physical assistance with two or more activities of daily living

Consumers must be able to manage the PCA program themselves, or have someone available to help them as surrogate of legal age.

Referral Process

BCIL works with individuals referred to us by:

Hospitals
Doctors
Visiting Nurse Agencies
Consumers themselves
Friends
Families
State and local agencies
Community organizations

Each consumer is assigned to a Skills Trainer, who helps the consumer through the application process, and gives the consumer and/or surrogate the training they need to manage their PCA program. BCIL provides the initial evaluation, which results in a recommendation as to the number of hours needed. PCA services are approved and paid for by MassHealth, which has the final approval on whether a consumer is eligible for the PCA program, and if so, on the number of hours per week which a consumer may use. Approvals are usually good for one year. Annual re-evaluations are done by our RN consultants.

It takes about two to three months to complete the evaluation and approval process. During this time, consumers may continue receiving services from other sources.

If you would like to find out more about the PCA Program please call BCIL Information and Referral Department at 617-338-6665 (voice) 617-338-6662 (TTY) or toll free at 866-338-8085.