In the very near future, we intend to introduce legislation to establish a program for family members of medically fragile children to become certified as Complex Care Assistants (CCAs), allowing them to provide nursing services to their children and to do so at an increased reimbursement rate.

Currently, Pennsylvania families whose medically fragile children qualify for Private Duty Nursing are struggling to receive the services they need.  Current Medicaid rules allow family members to be employed by a Home Health Agency to provide reasonable and necessary physician-ordered services for the treatment of their child’s medical condition. However, the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing does not allow a Registered Nurse to delegate skill tasks to family members, as other states allow.

Our legislation would require the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to establish a program within the Medical Assistance Program, under which a parent, guardian, or family member of an enrollee may be certified as a CCA and, under the direction of a Registered Nurse, provide services to the child.
 
This legislation also requires the Pennsylvania Department of Health to develop a new discipline, training, and certification for CCAs with training topics to include such things as positioning, feeding, catheter, vital signs, and medication administration.
 
The purpose of this legislation is to mitigate the staffing issues that have affected these families for over a decade. It is important to note that this does not replace the Private Duty Nursing benefit in Pennsylvania. This simply provides families a much-needed option to be an active part of their child’s care while being properly compensated for the work they are doing.