Waiver Description
Maryland’s Community Options Waiver, also referred to as the Home and Community-Based Options Waiver, allows elderly individuals and those with physical disabilities who need nursing-home-level care to receive care services in their home or a group living community facility instead of being institutionalized. Group living communities can include assisted living residences, provided they are participating in the program and willing to accept the Medicaid payment rates.
The Community Options Waiver is popular both with families and the state of Maryland, but for different reasons. Participants generally prefer to remain living at home for as long as possible; this waiver assists them in doing so. The cost of caring for someone at home is also less expensive for the state than it would be to place the individual in a nursing home. This is because home care utilizes caregiving assistance from family members.
Maryland Medicaid programs in general are sometimes referred to as Medical Assistance (MA).
Due to the popularity of this program, new applicants may be added to a waiting list. Wait times can last multiple years. Please note: Waiting lists are county specific. Therefore, some counties may have waitlists while others do not.
A waiting list, in Medicaid language, is referred to as the Waiver Services Registry. Persons who are currently residing in a Medicaid-funded nursing home may be able to bypass the Services Registry, or may be placed on a different, shorter registry.
Alternatively, another Medicaid program allows for similar services without waiting lists. Read about Maryland’s Community First Choice (CFC) Program.
What is a Medicaid Waiver?
Medicaid Waivers, also known as Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waivers, allow qualifying program participants to receive services outside of a nursing home. Medicaid’s standard benefit is to pay for nursing home care. However, those who wish to live at home, in assisted living or in adult foster care, sometimes Medicaid will pay for nursing-home-level care in those locations if it can be obtained at a lower cost than in a nursing home.
Eligibility Guidelines
The Community Options Waiver considers age, income, assets and functional ability as qualifying criteria.
General Requirements
Participants must be at least 18 years of age to be eligible and they must be assessed and found in need of nursing-home-level care. Those between the ages of 18 and 64 must be physically disabled.
Financial Requirements
Income Limits
Financially, the monthly income limit for an individual in 2024 is $2,829 (300% of SSI). For a couple with both spouses applying, each spouse is allowed $2,829 in monthly income.
Asset Limits
The asset limit for a single applicant remains at $2,000 for 2024. When both spouses of a couple are applying, the asset limit is $3,000. While these limits might seem quite low, several assets are considered exempt (non-countable). This includes an applicant’s home, a vehicle, household items, and some personal belongings.
Please note, the applicant must currently reside in the home or intend to return, and the equity value cannot be greater than $713,000. If the applicant is married and has a spouse who lives in the home, it is still considered exempt if the applicant does not live in it.
Over the Financial Limits?
Persons whose monetary resources are greater than the limits may still qualify in one of three ways.
1) If the applicant is married and their spouse is not seeking Medicaid, a certain amount of income and financial resources can be allocated to the non-applicant spouse as a living allowance. This can help lower the applicant’s income and assets to an acceptable level. In 2024, a non-applicant spouse (sometimes called the “community spouse”) can keep 50% of the couple’s assets, up to $154,140. (This is in addition to the $2,000 the applicant spouse can retain).
Community spouses also often require a certain amount of the applicant’s income to pay for living expenses. Up to $3,823.50 of the applicant’s monthly income can be given to a community spouse to help bring the spouse’s income up to that level.
2) Persons with high medical costs can take part in Maryland’s Medically Needy spend-down program. Applicants are conditionally accepted into Medicaid, provided they spend down their excess income on their care needs / medical bills until they meet the eligibility limits. This program is often referred to as a “Spend Down” program and is frequently compared to a deductible program.
3) Applicants can re-structure their finances to meet the limits. Excess assets can be converted from countable resources into exempt resources. One example would be updating the heating and / or plumbing in one’s home. The additional benefit of this approach is that certain resources are then preserved for future generations of the family.
A Word of Caution It is vital that persons do not give away assets or sell them for less than fair market value within 60 months of one’s Medicaid application date. This is because doing so is a violation of the Medicaid look-back period and can result in Medicaid denial.
Re-structuring one’s finances typically requires professional expertise. There are various types of professionals available to aid families in need. The cost for services can range from free to several thousand dollars depending on the type of professional and the complexity of the case. Learn more here about advisory services.
Benefits and Services
The Community Options Waiver (for Older Adults) provides a variety of supportive services in assisted living or at home. In addition to individual case management, waiver participants may be approved for any of the following:
- Adult medical day care
- Assisted living services
- Case management
- Behavioral consultation
- Family caregiver training
- Nutritionist services
- Respite care
- Transitional services
Waiver program participants can also receive the following:
- Medical care
- Nurse monitoring
- Personal Emergency Response Services (PERS)
- Assistive technology
- Environmental modifications
- Home-delivered meals
- Personal care
- Home medical equipment
- Disposable supplies
- Pharmaceutical assistance
However, these benefits are provided as regular Medicaid benefits, some of which are Community First Choice benefits, and are not under waiver services.
How to Apply / Learn More
The application process is different for individuals currently living at home versus those living in a Medicaid-funded nursing home. Those living at home can call 844-627-5465 to add their name to a waiting list (Services Registry). Those living in a nursing home should contact their county’s Area Agency on Aging or speak with the social worker at the facility. In addition, one may contact Medicaid’s Long Term Care and Waiver Services at 877-4MD-DHMH or 410-767-1739. Assistance is also available through one’s local Maryland Access Point (MAP).
To learn more, one can download a factsheet about this program on the Maryland Department of Aging website.