A family caregiver in Georgia typically gets paid $10 to $15 per hour when hired through a Medicaid waiver agency under the Elderly Disabled Waiver Program (EDWP) or SOURCE, or a tax-free daily stipend reported around $66 per day through Structured Family Caregiving. Payment does not come from the state directly. It flows through an approved home care or provider agency that hires you, runs payroll, and handles taxes.
Pay by Program
EDWP and SOURCE (Hourly Wage Through an Agency)
EDWP (formerly the Community Care Services Program) and SOURCE are Georgia’s two main Medicaid waiver programs for people who qualify for nursing home level of care but want to stay home.1Georgia.gov. Apply for Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program2Georgia.gov. Apply for Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment (SOURCE) Under either program, a relative can be hired as a paid caregiver, but only as a W-2 employee of a state-approved home care agency.
The agency sets the hourly wage. Home care aides in Georgia typically earn $10 to $14 per hour, with an average near $12. The agency withholds payroll taxes and pays into Social Security and Medicare. SOURCE generally serves people with more intensive care needs, and a care coordinator arranges the specific services covered.
Structured Family Caregiving (Daily Stipend, Tax-Free)
Structured Family Caregiving (SFC) pays differently. Instead of an hourly wage, you receive a daily stipend that is tax-free under federal rules. Provider agencies have reported rates around $66 per day for roughly five hours of daily care, though the exact amount depends on the recipient’s assessed level of need. Because the stipend is not taxed, the take-home value is higher than the number suggests.
To use SFC, the care recipient must already be enrolled in EDWP or SOURCE and eligible for Georgia Medicaid. The SFC provider agency pays the stipend, provides web-based tools for daily care tracking, and employs a registered nurse who is available for questions. That nurse and a care coordinator visit the home at least once a month, and the agency delivers at least eight hours of caregiver training each year.
VA Programs If the Care Recipient Is a Veteran
Two federal programs can fund family caregiving outside of Medicaid. Veteran Directed Care (VDC) gives eligible veterans a flexible budget to hire family, friends, or neighbors as paid caregivers.3Administration for Community Living. Veteran Directed Care Program The budget varies with assessed need, and VDC is only available at participating VA Medical Centers.
Aid and Attendance is an enhanced VA pension for veterans who need help with daily activities or are housebound. For 2026, the maximum annual pension is $29,093 for a single veteran or $34,488 for a veteran with a dependent, roughly $2,424 or $2,874 per month.4VA.gov. Current Pension Rates For Veterans The money goes to the veteran, who can then pay a relative for care. A written personal care agreement is strongly recommended when using these funds.
Who Can Be the Paid Caregiver
Two limits catch people off guard. Under EDWP and SOURCE, the paid caregiver cannot be the care recipient’s spouse or parent. Under SFC, you must live in the same home as the person you care for, and caregiving generally must prevent you from holding outside employment.
Beyond that, the agency will require a background check, standard employment paperwork, and any training it mandates.
Eligibility for the Person You Care For
The gatekeeping happens on the care recipient’s side. They have to qualify before you can be hired.
Financial Limits
The care recipient must qualify for Georgia Medicaid. For 2025, the monthly income cap is $2,901 for an individual and the countable asset limit is $2,000. A primary home and one vehicle generally do not count. When one spouse needs care and the other stays in the community, spousal impoverishment rules let the community spouse keep up to $159,920 in assets.5Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. Appendix A1 – ABD Financial Limits 2025 These numbers are updated annually.
Functional Need
A doctor must certify that the person needs nursing home level of care, which usually means significant difficulty with daily activities like bathing, dressing, eating, or managing medications. A functional assessment during the application confirms this.1Georgia.gov. Apply for Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program
How to Start Getting Paid
- Call Georgia’s Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) at 866-552-4464. This is the single entry point for EDWP and SOURCE. Your local Area Agency on Aging can also help.6Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services. Georgia’s Aging and Disability Resource Connection
- Complete the assessment. A care coordinator evaluates both financial eligibility and functional need. Everything else waits on approval here.
- Choose a provider agency. Once your loved one is approved for a waiver, you pick an approved home care agency, or an SFC provider agency if that is the track. The care recipient or their legal representative has the right to choose.7Georgia Medicaid. Waiver Programs
- Apply as the caregiver. Expect a background check, required training, and employment paperwork. The agency becomes your employer.
The full process can take weeks or months. Medicaid applications in Georgia move slowly, and waiver slots may have waiting lists. Start early.
Taxes on What You Earn
Under IRS Notice 2014-7, Medicaid waiver payments to a caregiver who lives with the care recipient are treated as “difficulty of care” payments and excluded from gross income. The requirement: the recipient’s home must also be your home, and you cannot keep a separate residence.8Internal Revenue Service. Certain Medicaid Waiver Payments May Be Excludable From Income That is why SFC stipends are tax-free. If you work through EDWP or SOURCE and keep your own separate home, your wages are taxable in the normal way.
Private Pay If Medicaid Isn’t in the Picture
When the care recipient does not qualify for Medicaid or VA benefits, paying a family caregiver out of personal funds is a straightforward option. But if Medicaid might ever be needed later, Georgia’s personal care contract rules matter. The state treats payments under a personal care contract as potential uncompensated transfers during the Medicaid asset review, and an invalid contract can trigger a penalty period that delays eligibility.9Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. Georgia Medicaid Policy 2349 – Personal Care Contracts
To hold up, the contract must meet every one of these conditions:
- Written, signed, dated, and notarized before any services are provided. Retroactive contracts covering care already given are automatically invalid.
- Specific about the type, frequency, and hours of each service. Vague language like “help around the house” will not pass review.
- Paid at the local market rate for similar services. Overpaying turns the excess into an uncompensated transfer.
- Payment tied closely to services performed: services rendered within 30 days of payment, and payment on completion of services or within 30 days after.
- Caregiver is not the spouse or parent of the care recipient.
- If a power-of-attorney holder signs for the care recipient, that person cannot also be the paid caregiver under the same contract.
Services a family member would normally provide “out of love and affection,” like visiting or updating other relatives, do not count as compensable care under Georgia’s rules.9Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. Georgia Medicaid Policy 2349 – Personal Care Contracts The contract has to cover genuine personal care work, and you need documentation showing the work happened.
One more tax point on this track: if a care recipient privately pays a family caregiver $3,000 or more during 2026, the care recipient becomes a household employer and must withhold 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare, with a matching amount from the employer.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 756 – Employment Taxes for Household Employees Paying under the table creates real problems if Medicaid later reviews the assets and those payments show up with no tax records behind them.
What Medicare Will Not Pay For
Families often assume Medicare covers a caregiver. It almost never does. Medicare does not pay for custodial or personal care such as bathing, dressing, toileting, or meal preparation when that is the only help needed. A home health aide is covered only when the patient is also receiving skilled nursing care or physical, occupational, or speech therapy. Round-the-clock home care, homemaker services outside a medical plan, and meal delivery are excluded.11Medicare.gov. Home Health Services For ongoing daily help, Medicaid waivers and VA benefits are the realistic funding sources.