For outstanding service to our clients, Alpine Homecare is pleased to announce the following Employee of the Month winners for January 2026!

Dear Alpine Caregivers,

We wanted to remind you / make you aware that starting in the 2025 tax year (filing in 2026), Colorado offers a refundable $1,200-$2,400 state income tax credit (HB24-1312) for qualifying direct care workers in home and community-based settings, and certain child care workers. Workers must meet income limits ($75k single/$100k joint) and work at least 720 hours.
Alpine has reported your care hours for 2025 to the State and you should apply for this credit with your annual tax filing!  

Please see below attached document for more information.

direct_care_worker_tax_credit-january_2026.pdf
File Size:	147 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

In light of H.R. 1 and the difficult Colorado budget situation in 2026 and beyond, HCPF and the Governor's office have announced a number of measures to combat the strong increase in Medicaid spending that the State has experienced over the past number of years. These measures directly impact all home care services, clients, caregivers and providers:

1) Soft Caps on Services: 
HCPF intends to implement a cap on Personal Care, Homemaker and Health Maintenance Activities (HMA) that will limit annual utilization to 19,000 units for HMA (about 13 hours per day), 10,000 units for Personal Care (about 6.8 hours per day) and 4,500 units for Homemaker (about 3 hours per day).

These changes will likely start to be effective 04/01/2026. Case management will have until 11/30/2026 to ensure that all PARs are within these limits.

There will be an exception process for high acuity clients who have a demonstrated need for services above these caps. 

2) Hard Cap on Caregiver Hours: No caregiver will be allowed to provide services in excess of 56 hours per week (per Medicaid member). In addition, the current caregiver limit of no more than 16 hours of service provision within a 24 hour period, implemented with CFC on July 1, 2025, remains in place.

3) Legally Responsible Homemaker: Legally Responsible Homemaker services will be reduced to 5 hours per week (from 10 hours) per legally responsible person per Medicaid client.

4) Across the board reimbursement rate reduction: In addition, the Governor's Office has announced an additional 0.75% rate reduction for all Colorado Medicaid providers.

The above measures will undoubtedly present very significant challenges to clients, caregiver and providers alike. Alpine Homecare promises to do the following:
- We will do our utmost to help and guide our clients and caregivers through the changes caused by these measures.
- We will continue to advocate on behalf of our clients and caregivers.
- We will continue to provide the best service possible to our clients.

​Alpine Homecare, LLC

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Alpine at 303 309 6202 for more information.

Alpine Homecare is pleased to announce the winner of its 
Employee of the Year 2025 Award. 
​
The Employee of the Year Award is granted in grateful appreciation of the winner's outstanding service to our clients and is rewarded with a $500.00 bonus payment. 
​
     Alpine's winner of the 2025 Employee of the Year Award is 
​Ruel H.
​

IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION OF YOUR FANTASTIC SERVICE!    
WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE YOU AS AN EMPLOYEE!
   THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMPASSIONATE, CARING & PROFESSIONAL APPROACH!

For outstanding service to our clients, Alpine Homecare is pleased to announce the following Employee of the Month winners for December 2025!

For outstanding service to our clients, Alpine Homecare is pleased to announce the following Employee of the Month winners for November 2025!

What is the IRS Caregiver Live-in Exemption?
IRS Notice 2014-7 states that certain caregiver income (so-called Difficulty of Care Payments) that is received for caring for a client that is receiving services under a Medicaid HCBS waiver is not subject to Federal and State income taxes, if the client and caregiver reside in the same residence.

Does Alpine allow Caregiver to take advantage of IRS 2014-7?
Yes, Alpine has allowed its caregivers for over a decade now to claim the Difficulty of Care / IRS Live-in Caregiver exemption and, if they so chose, has not withheld Federal or State income tax from their paychecks. 

Will the IRS Caregiver Live-in Exemption still be valid under CFC?
HCPF has requested confirmation (via a private letter ruling) from the IRS regarding the applicability of IRS 2014-7 under Community First Choice (CFC), as technically CFC is not a waiver service, but a State Medicaid plan. The expectation is that it will be possible to claim this exemption under CFC as well. 

UPDATE AS OF 12/15/2025: HCPF received a favorable decision from the IRS on this request on December 12, 2025. The IRS indicated that payments for select CFC services to live-in caregivers can be considered Difficulty of Care payments that are excludable from federal income tax under § 131 of the Internal Revenue Code. 

The IRS private letter ruling for Colorado confirms that IRS notice 2014-7 (Difficulty of Care Payments) is applicable to services under the Community First Choice program.

Alpine will therefore continue to allow its caregivers to take advantage of this exemption and will continue to not withhold any State or Federal income taxes from Alpine Live-in caregivers who choose to take advantage of the exemption.

Please do not hesitate to contact Alpine at 303 309 6202 if you have any more questions about Difficulty of Care Payments under CFC or would like to claim the IRS Caregiver Live-in Exemption.

With Operational Memo 25-075 HCPF is ending its Nurse Assessor Program: 

"Since its launch, the Nurse Assessor Program has faced numerous operational challenges. As a result, the Department is implementing the following changes to preserve member access to services and reduce administrative burden to individuals, case managers, and providers:

Ending of the Nurse Assessor Program for Health Maintenance Activities (HMA)

Effective immediately the Department is stopping all new referrals for HMA assessments conducted through the Nurse Assessor Program.

This means:
• No new referrals should be sent to Telligen to initiate an HMA assessment.
• HMA assessments currently scheduled with Telligen will be processed
  through to completion. Members with a scheduled Nurse Assessor/Telligen
  assessment for HMA will complete this assessment and receive their outcome
  notice by December 24, 2025.
• Member referrals with a pending, not-yet-scheduled assessment will be
 cancelled. Only assessments that already have a scheduled appointment will
 be completed.
• Members needing an HMA assessment for new or existing services, as of
  Dec. 22, 2025, will be assessed for and receive authorization from their Case
  Manager (CM).
• Case managers will resume full responsibility for determining HMA hours
  using the Direct Care Services Calculator (DCSC). More information on the
  specific details on the use of the DCSC will be provided in a forthcoming
  memo. "

For outstanding service to our clients, Alpine Homecare is pleased to announce the following Employee of the Month winners for October 2025!

Dear Alpine Caregivers,

This is just a friendly reminder that all eligible Alpine caregivers will be receiving Alpine's $300 Anniversary Bonus with this Friday's paycheck (12/12/25).

In order to qualify, caregivers needed to have joined Alpine no later than July 1, 2025 and still be actively working for Alpine on the bonus payment date.
​
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication!!!

​Alpine Homecare, LLC