New York families are increasingly reliant on Medicaid-funded home care services for the continued health of their disabled children. How are service providers responding to proposed cuts to the program?
Home care programs are of critical importance to those families with disabled children. Those with severe disabilities may require constant care to ensure their physical well-being—care that most families can simply not afford to provide, especially when factoring in a full-time job. This leads families to make difficult choices, and may result in a lapse in care for those children who need it most. In 2025, however, providers such as are seeking to expand access to their home care programs to ensure that as many families as possible can get the help they need.
Earlier this year, independent health information resource KFF published a report that found that around 19 million children nationwide now require specialized health care due to a disability. In New York State alone, the total number of children requiring disability care is nearing the 800,000 mark.
Of those children, KFF found that an average of 40% rely on Medicaid or Medicare coverage to fund their care—a figure which may be as high as 44% in New York. Strikingly, the share of low-income families who rely on these health insurance services to fund care for their children may be higher than 80% across the board.
These numbers highlight not only the vital importance of Medicaid to families requiring disability care, but also the importance of full-time care services, generally speaking. Exact numbers are difficult to locate, though, extrapolating from the data provided by KFF, it may be safe to assume that 60% of those receiving Medicaid-funded care would not be able to receive care at all without that coverage.
In the face of proposed cuts to government health programs, home care providers in New York, such as Amelia Home Care and the state-funded OPWDD, are amplifying outreach efforts to boost enrollment before it is too late.
Many of these providers offer full and part-time home care, which may include occupational therapy, hygiene assistance, prescription management, as well as general assistance with feeding and other daily tasks. These services, unfortunately, would also be prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of families without Medicaid and Medicare, though, at least for now, that coverage is protected.
Home care services are important not only because they increase the quality of care available to disabled children, but also because they can be a useful tool in preventing caregiver burnout. This condition, as described by the Cleveland Clinic, can take a heavy physical or emotional toll on family members, and is a serious sign that one should seek out a full-time care service.
As reported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation, only 1 in 3 disabled children are meeting resilience and self-reliance targets. By recognizing the need for these home care services and ensuring they are accessible to those who need them, however, the industry may be able to increase that number significantly, with the continued health and happiness of every disabled child in America being the ultimate goal.
With deep experience supporting medically complex cases, Amelia Home Care is among the providers helping shape best practices for family-centered home care in New York—and can offer guidance to families seeking the right care options for their unique needs.
