Updated September 3, 2026. Quick answer: yes, through ALTCS Direct Care Services, Spouse/Parent as Paid Caregiver option. Most adult family members can be hired and paid to provide the care. A spouse can also be the paid caregiver.
How Arizona pays a family caregiver
| Program | ALTCS Direct Care Services, Spouse/Parent as Paid Caregiver option |
|---|---|
| Can a family member be paid? | Yes. “These services are provided by Direct Care Workers (DCWs), including Family Members as paid caregivers.” |
| Can a spouse be paid? | Yes. “SPOUSE AS PAID CAREGIVER SERVICE MODEL OPTION – Permits legally responsible spouses to receive compensation for providing direct care services to their spouse, an ALTCS member. … The spouse providing attendant care services as a paid caregiver shall not be paid for more than 40 hours of services in a seven-day period.” |
Why the spouse question is different
Federal Medicaid rule treats a spouse (and a parent paying for a minor child) as a “legally responsible relative”, someone already assumed to owe the care for free, so paying them is barred by default. A state has to build an explicit exception into its waiver or state-plan option to pay a spouse at all; the rule for any other relative (an adult child, a sibling, a grandchild) is looser and usually allowed. That is why the two rows above can carry different answers on the same page.
The going rate
Not published by the state in the materials reviewed this session.
How it works
Apply for ALTCS through AHCCCS; an ALTCS case manager assesses need, and if the spouse’s or parent’s care meets the “extraordinary care” definition, the member elects the Spouse or Parent as Paid Caregiver model. The family member must be employed through a registered Direct Care Worker agency, complete required training, and is capped at 40 hours/week.
What this doesn’t answer
No specific dollar or hourly pay figure is published in the policy itself. Agencies set the actual wage within the stated cap, so a concrete rate is unverified; ALTCS enrollment wait times were not checked this session.
Sources
Read September 3, 2026.
Same question, other states: Arkansas · California.
Related: the private-pay caregiver-agreement rule · the household-employee tax rules once you’re being paid · what family caregiving actually costs unpaid.
General information drawn from each state’s own Medicaid agency and public program materials, not legal, tax or financial advice. Medicaid self-direction programs are administered state by state and change by budget cycle and waiver renewal; this page cannot see your own state’s current program status or your family’s eligibility. We are not a law firm, a benefits counselor, or a fiduciary, and this is not personalized advice. We sell nothing on this page and earn nothing from it.