Standard Medicaid pays for nursing home care. A waiver lets the state spend that money on in-home care, adult day programmes, respite and equipment instead, so the person can stay where they are. Each state runs its own, under its own name, with its own income and asset limits and often a waiting list.
Eligibility usually requires both a financial test and a functional one: needing help with several activities of daily living.
Why it matters
This is the main public funding for dementia care at home, and most families do not find out it exists until they are told at a hospital discharge.
Further reading: Medicaid.gov, Home and Community-Based Services
Medicaid waiver where you live
The local guide on this, for each city we cover.
- Baltimore, MD
- Boston, MA
- Buffalo, NY
- Charlotte, NC
- Chicago, IL
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Denver, CO
- Detroit, MI
- Houston, TX
- Los Angeles, CA
- Memphis, TN
- Milwaukee, WI
- New York, NY
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Tucson, AZ