In-Home Dementia Care in Colorado

Paying for care in Colorado: Home and Community-Based Services Waiver for persons who are Elderly, Blind, or Disabled

Medicare does not pay for the long-term help dementia requires. In Colorado the programme that can is HCBS-EBD, administered by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, with level-of-care determinations made annually by local Case Management Agencies.

Who qualifies

Applicants 65 and older must be determined to have a significant functional impairment; those 18 to 64 must be blind, physically disabled, or have an HIV or AIDS diagnosis. All must need long-term support at a level comparable to a nursing facility. The cited page does not describe any dementia-specific eligibility route, so ask the office that administers the programme how a dementia diagnosis is weighed in that assessment.

The financial limits

Single applicant

$2,000 in countable resources

Married couple

$3,000 in countable resources

Look-back period

Not published on the cited page; standard Medicaid transfer-of-asset rules apply

How to apply

A local Case Management Agency determines level of care and reviews it annually. All waiver services need prior approval before Health First Colorado will pay for them.

What is unusual about Colorado

The EBD waiver includes Consumer Directed Attendant Support Services (CDASS), which lets families direct and hire their own attendant care rather than being assigned an agency, alongside In Home Support Services and adult day health.

Rules and figures change. Confirm the current position with the programme itself before making a financial decision.