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California Medicaid's Assisted Living Waiver
What are Medicaid Waivers?
Medicaid pays for long term care services in nursing homes. For nursing home qualified persons that choose to live at home or in a residential community, Medicaid will pay for those services if they can be obtained at a lower cost. These are called Home and Community Based Services, Waiver Funded Services, Medicaid Waivers or simply Waivers.
Medi-Cal: Assisted Living Waiver Overview
The Assisted Living Waiver targets seniors that currently reside in or are qualified for nursing home care. The state of California recognizes that individuals qualified for nursing home care can often receive the same level and quality of care in assisted living at a lower cost to the state. Most seniors and their families prefer the assisted living environment to that of a nursing facility, thus creating a win-win scenario for the state and for families.
Qualifications for the Assisted Living Waiver
To be eligible for the Assisted Living Waiver, individuals must be qualified for nursing facility care, but not require so much care that it becomes prohibitively expensive to receive that care in an assisted living environment. If addition they must be financially qualified for Medicaid.
Qualifying for Medicaid is a complicated process involving a review of a family's income, assets and asset transfers as far back as 5 years. Rules change by state and there are many exceptions, but typically monthly income cannot exceed $2,000 and “countable asset” limits, excluding the car and home, range from $2,000 to $8,000.
Not qualifying for Medicaid can be devastating to the comfort of an individual, their family's finances and even their health. For these reasons, Medicaid planners exist to ensure families have the best chance of acceptance into the program. With care costing $1000's / month, there is a strong incentive to use a Medicaid Planner. Find assistance applying for Medicaid.
Qualifying for Medicaid is a complicated process involving a review of a family's income, assets and asset transfers as far back as 5 years. Rules change by state and there are many exceptions, but typically monthly income cannot exceed $2,000 and “countable asset” limits, excluding the car and home, range from $2,000 to $8,000.
Not qualifying for Medicaid can be devastating to the comfort of an individual, their family's finances and even their health. For these reasons, Medicaid planners exist to ensure families have the best chance of acceptance into the program. With care costing $1000's / month, there is a strong incentive to use a Medicaid Planner. Find assistance applying for Medicaid.
Services Provided under the Assisted Living Waiver
- Assistance with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living
- Health related services including skilled nursing
- Social services
- Recreational activities
- Meals
- Housekeeping and laundry
- Transportation
Availability of the Assisted Living Waiver
This is pilot program that is currently available in the following California counties:
- Fresno
- Los Angeles
- Sacramento
- San Bernardino
- San Joaquin
- Sonoma
- Riverside
Use our Locator Tool to Find Other Options for which You're Eligible
