The Independent Care Waiver Program (ICWP) in Georgia offers personal, in-home support services to help adult Medicaid recipients with severe physical disabilities live in their own homes or in the community, instead of an institution such as a nursing home or hospital.

We are a Georgia-approved participating provider of at-home care services to adults eligible to receive ICWP. This means persons who qualify for ICWP may receive homecare services at no cost to them because HomeNurse is reimbursed directly by the State of Georgia.

The program operates under a Home and Community-Based Waiver (1915c) granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Eligibility

The Independent Care Waiver is for eligible Medicaid recipients who have severe physical disabilities, are between the ages of 21 and 64 when they apply, and meet the criteria below. They must:

Be capable of directing their own services (individuals with a TBI do not have to meet this criteria);

Have a severe physical impairment and/or TBI that substantially limits one or more activities of daily living and requires the assistance of another individual;

Be medically stable but at risk of placement in a hospital or nursing facility because community-based support services are not available; and

Be able to be safely placed in a home and community setting.

Other factors also help determine whether eligible applicants can receive waiver services, including: currently residing in a hospital or nursing facility, length of time on the waiting list, ability to live independently and the estimated cost of care (based on the projected care plan).

People who are considering nursing home or other institutional care may be eligible for home- and community-based services as an alternative through Georgia’s Medicaid waiver program.

To qualify for the waiver programs, individuals must meet the criteria for Medicaid payment in an institution and certain other criteria as outlined above. People are then offered the choice between community-based services or institutional care as long as the community services do not cost more than the institutional care.