State programs
Alabama Elderly and Disabled Waiver
The Alabama Elderly and Disabled Waiver is a Medicaid program for elderly or disabled adults who would otherwise need nursing facility care. It pays for services that let them live in the community. The Alabama Department of Senior Services operates it. Alabama Medicaid oversees it.
Why it matters for your family
This waiver matters to Alabama families who cannot afford ongoing in-home help. The Alabama Department of Senior Services says case managers build a plan of care from the person's medical needs. Depending on that plan, services can include personal care, homemaker help, respite, adult day health, companion services and home-delivered frozen meals. The person must qualify medically and financially, and enrollment can have a waiting period. A common mistake is to assume that Medicaid pays for any home care a family wants. The waiver covers only what the plan of care lists. Families should ask the Department of Senior Services or Alabama Medicaid about current openings.
Source: medicaid.alabama.gov
Read more: Home care in Alabama
Related terms
- MedicaidMedicaid is a joint federal and state health coverage program for people with limited income and resources.
- Home and community-based services (HCBS) waiverA home and community-based services (HCBS) waiver is a Medicaid program that pays for care at home or in the community instead of in a nursing home.
- Medicaid waiver waitlistA Medicaid waiver waitlist is a list of people who qualify for a home and community-based waiver but cannot enroll yet because the state has no open slot.
- Area Agency on Aging (AAA)An Area Agency on Aging is a public or private nonprofit agency that a state designates to meet the needs of older adults in a local area.
- Level of care assessmentA level of care assessment is an evaluation that decides whether a person needs the level of care that a nursing facility provides.
- Alabama Community Waiver ProgramThe Alabama Community Waiver Program (CWP) is a home and community-based Medicaid program for Alabamians with intellectual disabilities.
