How to Switch Home Care Agencies in New York Without Losing Your Hours
Aides who do not show up. Calls nobody returns. Most families stay too long because they believe switching means starting over. It does not — your hours belong to your authorisation, not to the agency.
- Your MLTC plan authorises the hours; the agency only delivers them. Changing agency does not change your authorisation.
- You can request a different agency within your plan’s network — ask your care manager.
- Switching agencies and switching plans are two different things. Do not confuse them.
- If you do switch plans, continuity of care protects the same type and amount of services for 90 days (120 in some cases).
- Never resign from the old agency before the new one has confirmed a start date.
Families put up with a surprising amount before they call anyone. Aides arriving an hour late, or not at all. A different person every week. An office that does not answer the phone on a Friday afternoon when there is no coverage for the weekend. Then a quiet fear keeps them there: if we complain, we might lose the hours.
You will not. Understanding who actually controls what makes this straightforward.
Who Controls What
Authorises how many hours a week you get and what caregiver type. This is the thing you do not want to disturb.
The licensed agency that employs, trains, schedules and supervises the aide who comes to the door. This is the part you can change.
Your contact at the plan. Requests to change agency go through them.
The document that says how many hours you are entitled to. It travels with you, not with the agency.
That last point is the one that matters. Changing which agency staffs your case does not reopen your assessment, does not restart eligibility, and does not reduce your hours.
The Steps
- 1. Choose the new agency first. Confirm two things before you do anything else: that they are in your plan’s network, and that they can actually staff your schedule — your borough, your language, your shift pattern. See how to choose an agency and how to verify a legitimate one.
- 2. Call your care manager. Say you want to change the agency providing your authorised hours, and name the agency you want. You do not have to justify it in detail, though specifics help — missed shifts, unfilled weekends, no supervision visits.
- 3. Get the transfer date in writing. The plan coordinates the handover. Ask for the effective date and confirm the new agency has it too.
- 4. Keep the old agency until the date arrives. This is where things go wrong. Do not resign in frustration on a Tuesday and hope someone starts on Wednesday.
- 5. Brief the new agency properly. Care plan, medication routine, mobility and transfers, what the previous aide did well, what the household needs. See what to expect on the first day.
Before you switch, consider asking for a different aide first. Often the problem is the match, not the organisation — wrong language, wrong personality, wrong shift for that person’s own life. A decent agency will replace an aide without drama. If they will not, or if the problem is the office rather than the caregiver, then it is the agency.
Switching Plans Is a Different Decision
If your complaint is really about the plan — hours you believe are too low, a care manager you cannot reach, an agency network with nobody who speaks your language — that is a plan question, not an agency question.
Switching MLTC plans comes with a protection: continuity of care. The new plan must maintain the same type and amount of services you were already receiving for a transition period, generally 90 days, extended to 120 days in situations such as your previous plan closing or leaving your county. During that window the new plan cannot cut your hours.
Afterwards it can reassess, and if it proposes a reduction you have formal appeal rights with short deadlines — including the right to keep your current hours while you appeal, if you ask in time. Read how to choose an MLTC plan and how MLTC plans work before you move.
One more thing worth knowing: if your plan stops contracting with your current agency, that can itself be grounds to change plans — but the new plan is not automatically obliged to match your old hours in that scenario. Ask questions before you jump.
Switching When You Pay Privately
Much simpler. There is no plan, no authorisation and no network — check your notice period in the service agreement, book the new agency, and overlap by a day or two if you can. Rates vary, so compare like for like: see NYC home care costs and private pay home care.
What to Ask a New Agency Before You Commit
- Who covers when our regular aide is sick — and will the backup be language-matched?
- How quickly can you staff our exact schedule, including weekends and nights?
- Who is our coordinator, what is their direct number, and who answers after hours?
- How often does a nurse visit to review the care plan?
- How do you handle it if we ask for a different aide?
The honest answers to those five questions predict the next year better than any brochure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I lose my home care hours if I change agencies?
No. Your hours come from your plan’s authorisation, not from the agency. Changing which agency delivers them does not reopen your assessment or reduce your hours.
How do I change my home care agency on Medicaid?
Contact your MLTC care manager, tell them you want a different agency, and name one that is in the plan’s network. The plan coordinates the transfer date. Keep the current agency until that date.
Can I choose any agency I want?
Under Medicaid it must be an agency contracted with your plan. If the agency you want is not in the network, your options are to ask the plan about contracting or to consider changing plans — a bigger decision.
Will there be a gap in care?
There should not be. The transfer is scheduled for a specific date and the old agency continues until then. Gaps happen when families resign first and arrange second.
What if I switch MLTC plans instead?
Continuity-of-care rules require the new plan to keep the same type and amount of services for a transition period — generally 90 days, and up to 120 days in certain situations such as your old plan closing.
Do I have to tell my current agency why I am leaving?
No. You can simply say you are transferring. That said, specific feedback about missed shifts or unfilled coverage is useful to your care manager and often speeds the process up.
Thinking About Switching? Ask Us What It Would Look Like.
Tell us your plan, your borough and your schedule. We will tell you straight away whether we can staff it and how the transfer would work.
Call 718-375-2707 Request Care Online