Home Care Powered By AUAF
Welcome to the Home Care Powered By AUAF podcast — your go-to resource for expert insights and practical guidance on senior care and in-home support services across Illinois. Whether you're caring for a loved one or exploring care options for yourself, this podcast is here to inform, inspire, and support you every step of the way.
Each episode covers essential topics like how to become a paid family caregiver, understanding Medicaid-based home care, tips for seniors aging at home, caregiver wellness, and more. Hosted by our compassionate care experts, we bring real conversations and trusted advice to help families make confident care decisions.
This podcast is presented by Home Care Powered By AUAF — a licensed Illinois home care agency with over 30 years of service. Learn more about our programs and services by visiting www.homecare-aid.com.
Because when it comes to caring for your loved ones, we’re with you every step of the way.
Home Care Powered By AUAF
Does Income Affect Eligibility for the Illinois Community Care Program?
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Many families wonder whether income affects eligibility for the Illinois Community Care Program (CCP). This episode explains how CCP eligibility is determined, when income matters, and how the program helps older adults receive home care while remaining independent.
- What determines eligibility for the Illinois Community Care Program
- Why income does not decide initial CCP eligibility
- How income may affect the cost of services
- What services the Community Care Program may provide
- The role of the Determination of Need assessment
- How Medicaid status influences participant costs
- How CCP helps older adults avoid nursing home care
Learn how the Illinois Community Care Program works and understand the factors that determine eligibility, service costs, and access to home care.
Blog Link: Does Income Affect Eligibility for the Illinois Community Care Program?
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📍 Main Office Location: 4343 W Touhy Ave, Lincolnwood, IL 60712
Phone Number: (773)-912-0587
Want to become a paid caregiver?
Learn how to care for a family member and earn income through the Illinois Community Care Program.
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Welcome to the Home Care Powered by AUAF podcast. Imagine this. You're uh you're watching your aging parent struggle to navigate their own kitchen. Right. They were moving a little slower, maybe missing a few medications, and you know, just looking increasingly frail. And you know they need help, but you are completely paralyzed by one terrifying assumption.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I hear this all the time.
SPEAKER_01Right, because they have a modest pension, you think they make like way too much money to get state help, but nowhere near enough to afford private care. Today we are dismantling that exact myth.
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell It is arguably the most common and honestly the most destructive myth in the world of elder care.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Families are making these agonizing decisions or avoiding decisions entirely based on a total misunderstanding of how the system actually works.
SPEAKER_01And that is exactly the mission for today's deep dive. We are unpacking the Illinois Community Care Program, commonly known as the CCP.
SPEAKER_00The lifesaver for so many.
SPEAKER_01Truly. We're pulling from some fantastic sources today, including a really detailed article by Rana Botani from July 2026 and official agency information from home care powered by AUAF. Okay, let's unpack this. Why do so many people mistakenly think their bank account automatically disqualifies them from getting help keeping their loved ones safely at home?
SPEAKER_00Well, it comes down to how we are conditioned to view government assistance, I think. We tend to imagine a single rigid door.
SPEAKER_01Right, like an all-or-nothing thing.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. You either, you know, fall below a very strict poverty line and get to walk through, or you make one dollar too much, the door slams in your face, and you are entirely on your own. It's a financial cliff.
SPEAKER_01Which is terrifying.
SPEAKER_00But when it comes to the Illinois Community Care Program, that cliff simply does not exist in the way people think it does. The absolute foundational rule you need to understand is this income is not a direct eligibility requirement to get into the program.
SPEAKER_01Wait, I really want to pause and highlight that for you listening because it feels completely counterintuitive. Income does not determine if you get into the program.
SPEAKER_00Precisely. Your monthly income does not determine whether you qualify for assistance in the first place. Okay. It only dictates what you might have to pay for the services once you are already enrolled in receiving care. The state is looking at your physical vulnerability first and your wallet second.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell So it's a bit like college admissions versus financial aid. Oh, like that. Like your merits, or in this case your physical needs, get you accepted into the school. The admissions office says yes, you belong here. But then your bank account simply determines if you get a full ride or if you have to pay a portion of the tuition. Either way, you still get to go to the school.
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell That is a perfect analogy. What's fascinating here is that this two-step structure was intentionally designed by the state to solve a massive societal crisis.
SPEAKER_01The missing middle.
SPEAKER_00The missing middle. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people who aren't destitute, so they don't meet strict traditional Medicaid poverty guidelines, but who absolutely cannot afford the exorbitant, often ruinous out-of-pocket costs of full-time private care or a nursing home.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Which is a really terrifying place to be. You worked your whole life for a modest retirement. And that very retirement suddenly disqualifies you from getting help.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. The state recognized that if they just used a strict income cutoff, thousands of seniors would be forced into incredibly unsafe living conditions, eventually ending up in the emergency room simply because they had a teacher's pension or a standard Social Security payout.
SPEAKER_01So if income isn't the bouncer fedor checking IDs and turning people away, what are the actual gatekeepers? If I want to get my dad into this program, what are the real criteria?
SPEAKER_00The primary eligibility comes down to three objective factors and one highly subjective one.
SPEAKER_01Okay, play them out for me.
SPEAKER_00Objectively, the person must be 60 years of age or older. They must be a resident of the state of Illinois. And lastly, their non-exempt assets generally must total $17,500 or less.
SPEAKER_01Hold on, let me stop you right there because jargon like non-exempt assets is exactly what sends families into a panic spiral.
SPEAKER_00Oh, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Let's say my dad owns the house he's been living in for 40 years. It's worth way more than 17 grand. Does the state look at that house and say, nope, you're out?
SPEAKER_00That is exactly why we need to clarify this. No, they do not. A primary residence, like the house they actually live in, is typically considered an exempt asset.
SPEAKER_01Oh, wow. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it doesn't count toward that $17,500 limit. Usually one primary vehicle is also exempt. Personal belongings, furniture, these are exempt.
SPEAKER_01Okay. A huge sigh of relief for anyone listening right now.
SPEAKER_00Right. When they say non-exempt assets, they're primarily looking at liquid accessible wealth.
SPEAKER_01Like cash.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Savings accounts, checking accounts, stocks, bonds, or maybe a second piece of real estate like a vacation home, that liquid pool needs to be under 17,500. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Okay. That makes it much more approachable. Age 60, Illinois resident, liquid assets under that 17.5 mark. But you mentioned a subjective factor.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Yes, and this is the crux of the entire program, really. To get in, the person needs what the state formally calls an assessed need for long-term care.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell And what does that actually look like in practice? What is the Illinois Department on Aging looking for when they, you know, walk into someone's living room to do that assessment?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell They conduct a determination of need assessment. They aren't just checking your blood pressure, they are evaluating the individual's daily life to see if they are at imminent risk of needing a nursing home if they don't get immediate support.
SPEAKER_01It's a very functional.
SPEAKER_00Highly practical. They ask things like, can this person safely cook a meal without leaving the stove on? Can they physically get in and out of the shower without a high risk of falling?
SPEAKER_01That's a big one.
SPEAKER_00Huge. Or are they taking the right pills at the right time? Or is there just a jumble of pill bottles on the counter? If the answers point to a loss of independence, they have an assessed need.
SPEAKER_01But let me play the skeptic for a second here. Is the state doing this out of the goodness of their hearts? Or is this just a cynical way for Illinois to slash its own Medicaid budget by keeping people out of expensive nursing homes?
SPEAKER_00I mean, it is absolutely a budgetary strategy. But frankly, their budgetary pragmatism works heavily in your favor. How so? Yes. The ultimate goal of the CCP is preventative. It costs the state significantly less to send a caregiver into a home for a few hours a day than it does to subsidize a 24-7 skilled nursing facility.
SPEAKER_01Makes sense.
SPEAKER_00But the byproduct of saving the state money is that your loved one gets to remain safely in the environment where they are most comfortable, which is universally better for their mental health and longevity.
SPEAKER_01So the state's financial interest aligns perfectly with the family's emotional interest.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Keep them home.
SPEAKER_01Okay, let's follow the money here. We establish that you get approved based on your physical need, not your monthly income. But eventually the bill comes due. How does income finally come into play?
SPEAKER_00Once you pass that determination of need and you are approved, the program splits into two financial tracks. Okay. Track one is for participants who do meet traditional Medicaid income limits. Those limits fluctuate depending on household size and specific categories. But if a participant qualifies for Medicaid, they generally receive all these CCP services at absolutely no cost.
SPEAKER_01Free care for those under the threshold. Simple enough. But what about the missing middle you mentioned earlier? Track two?
SPEAKER_00Track two is for the people who exceed the Medicaid income limits. They still qualify for the CCP because they have a physical need, but they are asked to pay a portion of the cost.
SPEAKER_01And how is that calculated?
SPEAKER_00This is done on a sliding scale based precisely on their income level.
SPEAKER_01Explain the sliding scale to me like I'm five, because sliding scale can sometimes feel like a trap where you still end up going broke, just slightly slower.
SPEAKER_00It's not a trap at all, I promise. Let's use some hypothetical numbers to paint the picture.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Say you hire a private caregiver completely out of pocket. That might cost you $30 to $40 an hour in today's market. If you need 20 hours of help a week, that is financially devastating for most families.
SPEAKER_01Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00But under the CCP sliding scale, if you have a modest pension, the state might say, okay, based on your income, your co-pay is only going to be $8 an hour. The state absorbs the rest of the cost.
SPEAKER_01So what does this all mean? It means they take an impossible catastrophic expense and magically turn it into a manageable monthly utility bill.
SPEAKER_00That's a great way to put it.
SPEAKER_01The state of Illinois is actively artificially lowering the cost of care across the board so that staying home remains the most viable option, regardless of your tax bracket.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. A little bit of heavily subsidized help at home today prevents the need for massively expensive state-funded institutional care tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01So if the state is heavily subsidizing this care to keep people out of facilities, the pressure logically shifts to the actual pair providers. Because the state of Illinois isn't showing up in a suit and tie to do your laundry or make your breakfast.
SPEAKER_00No, they certainly are not.
SPEAKER_01Who is actually walking through the front door?
SPEAKER_00The state contracts with licensed private agencies. And our research highlights one of the major players navigating this system, which is home care, powered by AUAF.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they have been operating in the Chicagoland area for over 30 years. That kind of longevity isn't just marketing. In the home care industry, surviving for three decades means you understand the incredibly complex bureaucracy of the Illinois Department on Aging.
SPEAKER_00And importantly, they are fully licensed and insured to provide exactly the kind of non-medical in-home care the CCP is designed to deliver.
SPEAKER_01Let's talk about what non-medical in-home care actually means because it sounds a bit sterile. When you look at what AUAF actually does day to day, we are talking about the essential things that make a house a safe home.
SPEAKER_00The basics of dairy living.
SPEAKER_01Right. It's personal care, helping someone bathe and groom with actual dignity, it's meal preparation, and we aren't talking about tossing a frozen dinner in the microwave. It's ensuring a senior with diabetes is getting proper nutrition.
SPEAKER_00They handle medication reminders too, which if you speak to any adult child with an aging parent is often their single biggest daily anxiety.
SPEAKER_01Oh, 100%. Did mom take her blood thinner today? Did she take it twice by accident?
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Having a professional there to manage that is a massive relief. Plus, they handle the lighthousekeeping and laundry.
SPEAKER_01Which seem like minor chores, but for an 85-year-old with mobility issues, an overflowing laundry basket isn't a chore. It's a tripping hazard that leads to a broken hip.
SPEAKER_00Precisely. They also offer companionship and private sitters. I think companionship is wildly underrated in senior care, actually.
SPEAKER_01Really? Why is that?
SPEAKER_00Because isolation is devastating to cognitive health.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Just having someone in the room to talk to, to run errands with can completely change a senior's trajectory. And AUAF specifically notes, they provide specialized care for folks dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia.
SPEAKER_01And when you are dealing with cognitive decline or just the deep vulnerability of aging, communication is everything. This is a detail about AUAF that really stood out. Here's where it gets really interesting. They aren't just sending English-speaking caregivers into diverse communities.
SPEAKER_00No, the linguistic accessibility is striking. Their staff is fluent in English, yes, but also Assyrian, Arabic, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Persian.
SPEAKER_01Imagine how comforting that is. When someone is slipping cognitively, one of the first things that happens is they revert back to their native language.
SPEAKER_00That's so true.
SPEAKER_01Being able to communicate your needs, your pain, or just share a memory from your childhood in your mother tongue with your caregiver, that isn't just a service, that is a massive quality of life upgrade.
SPEAKER_00It reduces anxiety tremendously. It builds immediate trust. And speaking of trust, you have to look at their geographic footprint. They aren't just serving a handful of city blocks.
SPEAKER_01No, they cover the entire suburban sprawl. If you are listening anywhere near Chicago, they likely cover you. They are in the city, but they also serve Arlington Heights, Barrington, Bloomingdale, Evanston, Hoffman Estates.
SPEAKER_00Wow, that's a huge radius.
SPEAKER_01Right, and it keeps going. Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Palatine, Rosel, Schomburg, Skokie, and Streamwood. It's a massive established network.
SPEAKER_00Which is exactly what you want. You want a well-oiled machine with deep community roots when you are handing over the keys to your parents' house.
SPEAKER_01Okay, but I want to pivot to a plot twist in the research that completely blew my mind. We know AUAF provides highly trained multilingual caregivers, but what if the person providing the companionship doing the laundry and making the meals is you?
SPEAKER_00This is perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of the Illinois CCP. It features a paid family caregiver model.
SPEAKER_01Wait, really?
SPEAKER_00Yes. If you were already dedicating your time to caring for a loved one at home, you might actually be eligible to receive compensation for that exact work.
SPEAKER_01That is life-changing for so many listeners. I know people who have had to quit their careers or drop down to part-time just to keep their mom safe at home, and the financial strain is brutal. They are doing the work of a nurse for free. How much does this actually pay?
SPEAKER_00Well, the pay rates vary depending on which contracted home care agency you partner with, but using AUAF as our benchmark, they currently pay eligible family caregivers $21 per hour.
SPEAKER_01$21 an hour to take care of your own family member. But how does that actually work? How do you go from being a devoted daughter to a paid employee? Do you just like fill out a web form and the state sends a check?
SPEAKER_00Not quite. The state maintains strict safeguards to prevent fraud and ensure quality care. First, a care coordination unit has to be involved.
SPEAKER_01What is a care coordination unit?
SPEAKER_00Think of them as the state's independent air traffic controllers for senior care. They are local agencies that assess the situation, verify the need, and oversee the care plan.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so they're the neutral third party.
SPEAKER_00Right. They confirm that the senior actually needs the help and that you are an appropriate person to provide it. You also have to pass a formal background check, meet a minimum age requirement, and crucially, you have to complete standardized training provided by the agency, like AUAF.
SPEAKER_01So you are basically becoming a formal employee of AUAF. You go through their onboarding, you receive professional training on how to safely transfer someone from a bed to a wheelchair, and then you clock in to do the work you were already doing out of love, but now you get professional support and a paycheck.
SPEAKER_00If we connect this to the bigger picture, it transforms the entire dynamic of aging. AUAF isn't just acting as a staffing agency sending strangers into homes, they are actively empowering families to financially sustain themselves.
SPEAKER_01That's incredible.
SPEAKER_00They recognize that a daughter or a son is often the best, most loving caregiver imaginable, but the love doesn't pay the mortgage.
SPEAKER_01And to make this financially viable for the agencies, they partner with the major Medicaid health plans. They aren't asking the family to figure out the billing.
SPEAKER_00Right, which would be a nightmare.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. AUAF accepts Aetna, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, County Care, Humana, Meridian, Molina, basically all the major plans you likely already have. They handle the bureaucracy so you can handle the caregiving.
SPEAKER_00By formalizing this relationship, they take a situation that usually bankrupts a family and turn it into a sustainable long-term path forward.
SPEAKER_01All right, let's bring this all together. We have covered a tremendous amount of ground today, but if there is one thing you take away from this deep dive, let it be this. Do not assume you make too much money to get help.
SPEAKER_00Please don't.
SPEAKER_01Income does not stop you or your aging loved ones from qualifying for the Illinois Community Care Program. It only changes the math on what you might pay. And even then, the sliding scale keeps it vastly more affordable than private care. Absolutely. And if you are in the Chicagoland area, home care powered by AUAF is a 30-year veteran ready to help you navigate this entire maze. Whether you need them to provide a multilingual caregiver or you want to train with them to get paid $21 an hour to care for your own family member, there are real tangible options out there.
SPEAKER_00This raises an important question. And as we wrap up, I want to leave you with a thought to mull over. We spend decades of our lives planning for retirement, and so often that planning is entirely driven by fear.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, fear of the unknown. Specifically, the fear of needing to save hundreds of thousands of dollars just to afford a nursing home someday. But if income doesn't actually block you from community care, and your own family can be professionally trained and paid to support you, how does that change your strategy right now? Wow. Does it shift the focus from merely hoarding cash for a sterile institution to investing that energy into modifying your current house, building up your local community, and making your own home a place you can safely and happily stay forever?
SPEAKER_00That is a complete paradigm shift on how we view getting older. It changes it from a tragedy to be delayed to a phase of life that can actually be managed with dignity. Thank you all for joining us on this deep dive. Keep asking questions, do not let bureaucracy intimidate you. Keep looking into the resources available in your state and keep exploring. Until next time.