Medicaid Waiver

If a person has reached a place in their where they, or a loved one, are no longer able to care for themselves and keep up their home, they are not alone. The 65 and older age bracket in the United States has increased steadily through the years.

The sluggish economy and high demand for home care can make funding quality home care at a reasonable cost very difficult. Although there are ways that people can get the help they need while staying at home, all without having to deplete all their hard earned savings.

Government agencies including Medicaid and Veteran’s benefits can provide funding for home care services. The Medicaid Waiver program can greatly help provide financial assistance to elder people who need home care.

These Medicaid waiver programs were introduced in 1984 and were started to assist with the increasing number of developmentally-disabled children. Through the years, the needs of these patients grew and the waiver program was also improved. These waiver programs eventually covered a wider group of patients.

Medicaid waiver programs are still involved with children with developmental disabilities, but are now so extensive that they cover senior and older adults, individuals with autism, and physically disabled individuals.

Some of the costs that may be included in these Medicaid waiver programs encompass administrative care management, attendant care, family training, accessibility adaptations, occupational and speech therapies, and emergency response.

The most important type of Medicaid waiver for most people is the 1915(c). This Medicaid waiver supports the use of community-based services as an alternative to medical institutions. If a patient is consider as qualified for institutionalization because of psychiatric illness, developmental disability, or chronic disease, the patient or the patient’s advocates can ask for a 1915(c) Medicaid waiver to get the right to use community-based care. This allows the patient to remain at home rather than having to stay and live in an institution.

If the request for the Medicaid waiver is approved, the patient will be given access to home health care and other health care services which are based in their respective community. Medicaid can provide the patient an allowance to cover his or her medical care. Depending on the area or state and the situation of the patient, Medicaid may also pay specific providers.

A major difficulty and disadvantage to these programs is that the application process can be quite daunting and bureaucracy involved can make the task difficult. One might be better off looking for an inexpensive individual health care plan to cover their needs while waiting for the health insurance waivers to get underway. Although the coverage may not be as specialized, it will be of great assistance in case there is some type of crisis or emergency.

Almost 70% of Americans today are under-insured or have no coverage at all. Without any kind of general government health coverage, it can remain this way for a long time. Medicaid health waivers, although helpful, is intended for the lower class, even if the middle class is also experiencing this type of difficulty.