Direct Care Worker Max Pay Rate 2026

Welcome to the 2026 Pay Rate Resource page.

Each Common Law Employer (CLE) and Direct Care Worker (DCW) agree upon the hourly pay rate that a DCW can be paid. The maximum DCW hourly pay rate depends on the county where the participant lives and employer costs. The region bill rate established by each Community HealthChoices Managed Care Organization (CHC-MCO) must cover DCW’s pay, employer taxes and Worker’s Compensation insurance.

To determine the maximum DCW hourly pay rate:

If you are a new CLE, use the “2026 New CLE Maximum DCW Pay Rate Sheet” for your CHC-MCO to find the highest hourly pay rate you can pay a DCW.
- These can be found on the Forms page by clicking the following link: Forms – PA Tempus Unlimited
If you are an existing CLE, use the “2026 PA CHC Pay Rate Calculator” for your CHC-MCO in the Pay Rate Calculator section below because it uses your personal State Unemployment insurance rate
- CLE’s current State Unemployment insurance rate can be found in Participant Dashboard

The maximum DCW hourly pay rate is the amount the DCW receives after employer taxes and Worker’s Compensation costs are taken out of the region bill rate.

Please check back for more information.

Communication

Documents

2026 DCW Pay Rate Change Form (PDF)

Pay Rate Calculator

To use the Excel calculator, you must download to your computer then open it in Excel.