Eric LeGrand credits his health care team for taking care of his basic needs, making it easier to become an entrepreneur and an advocate for people with disabilities. LeGrand was paralyzed during a Rutgers football game in 2010.

“I believe that people should be able to make a good career out of this,” he said Monday. “I rely on my nurse and my aide for everything — to get me out of bed, and get me washed up, get me dressed, all the things that are very invasive in my care.”

New Jersey home health care regulations have sometimes led to complications and stress in the LeGrand household, where his mother, Karen, occasionally has to step in to provide care.

“I’m not a nurse. I’ve learned a lot over the years but it’s hard because I have other things that I need to do,” said Karen LeGrand. “Without the aides, the nurses, I don’t know where things would be right now.”

“It should be easy to be able to say, ‘Hey, I need to make a call and be able to get another nurse to come in.’ It does not work like that,” said her son. “It sucks sometimes, but it’s something that we have to deal with.”

On Monday, LeGrand hosted lawmakers at his Woodbridge coffeehouse for a discussion on the importance of properly paying home health care workers.

“We trust them with the care of the people we love the most, and who are most in need, and oftentimes most vulnerable,” said Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex).