What is the Home and Community Based (HCB) Waiver program?

Like all things medicaid, what the waiver covers depends on how your state administers & manages Medicaid. Medicaid is written into PL to pay for skilled nursing services aka a NH, but the Feds allow for a diversion of funds to go to certain other programs through HCB. It is keyed to your state.

Some states, like CA, have a well establish IHHS program, in which a family caregiver gets training & then paid for a set # of hours of caregiving based on a review of the elders needs. Other states do a CHB diversion to pay for AL and the AL decide if they want to participate and to what # of beds. My state - Louisiana - has decided to divert $$$$ to PACE programs and cut way back on AL diversion funding & there is a waiting list for AL like 70k names long.

All states have a Council of governments and within the COG is your local Area on Aging. (COG's are regional planning bodies that funnel & coordinate fed/state funding). The AoA will have staff that can provide info as to what waivers are available for your region. AoA have the NH ombudsman program for most states. COG's are your tax dollars so use them.

This site has a drop down list of AoA. Use the search site on upper R to find it!

That previous answer was impossible to understand! May as well have been written in Greek!

The answer was straight forward: "Like all things medicaid, what the waiver covers depends on how your state administers & manages Medicaid. Medicaid is written into PL to pay for skilled nursing services aka a NH, but the Feds allow for a diversion of funds to go to certain other programs through HCB. It is keyed to your state."

Brain Dead Feds allowed for a diversion of funds.

I hate acronyms and abreviations:
PL
HCB
IHHS
CHB
AL
PACE
COG
AoA

Call your Area on Aging to get explanations and use a elder affairs lawyer

My son receives Home and Community Based Services here in Iowa. He lives in an HCBS home (used to be called group homes). He receives 24/7 care and vocational services. It does not pay for food, clothing, medication, rent, and other things, but he is on SSI to pay for those. His waiver is called the Intellectual Disabilities waiver.

My mom is on Medicaid and receives care through an agency called Elderbridge. Her waiver is called the Elderly Waiver. Through Medicaid (and the Waiver), she receives her medications, dietary aids (a nutrition drink) and a nurse to come in and check her blood levels as she needs it.

If your mom is on a Waiver, she should have a case manager, usually from a private agency, sometimes through DHS; but the case manager is the go-to person for what services are available to your mom. I would suggest your first step would be to call this case manager. If you don't have once, contact the nearest Agency on Aging and they should be able to send you in the right direction for your state. Good luck!

Dear igloo572 ......... Please here we go again.......".Abbreviations are getting my goat "....remember that blog section a while back..........well there are still many of us who need to see the abbreviated word just once written out fully... in your text....... so what is PL or HCB. ???... or " aka a NH, ".... sorry, to some of us English is a 2nd language and your patience about abbreviations would be so appreciated.........Thanks !!!!

DHiBe: You could use "Urban Dictionary" to pick up on what you don't understand. And besides ohmeowzer already told you what the acronym, HBC stands for. Look at the start of the post.

Definately see your Agency on Aging which is run by your county Dept. Of human Services. Each state is different so get the answers straight from the right people.

My State has Home and Community based Waivers. It is a Medicaid program that provides services to people to stay in their own home or apartment or move to Assisted Living instead of going to a Nursing Home. You must be eligible for Medicaid to enroll in the program, you also have to meet a certain level of care.
In my county the level of care is Nursing Home Level of Care. The Aging and Disability Resource Centers do the assessment and enroll people in the program.
The waiver program provides services to keep people in the community and out of institutions for many reasons but the focus is less cost of care. For the consumer that can also mean family can be paid caregivers, and they can remain in the home or apartment they are familiar with and interact with neighbors and friends thus improving their quality of life.
I hope this simple explanation answers your question.
Each state has formed their own Home and Community Based Waiver program and programs vary for state to state and even county to county.
See your local Aging or Human Services Agency.
Good Luck