What Is A Medicaid Waiver ?

The Medicaid program is an enormously important source of money to pay for services and supports for people with developmental disabilities. About $3 of every $4 that states spend for developmental disabilities services comes by way of Medicaid. Once, Medicaid dollars only paid for institutional services. Today, Medicaid allows more diverse services and supports for individuals in the community, by "waiving" the need to get those same services in an institution.

In order to participate in a Medicaid Waiver program, you must be Medicaid eligible. One is financial eligibility. Medicaid is a means-tested program. To qualify for Medicaid, a person cannot have income or assets that exceed the amounts that the state has specified. The second part of eligibility is whether a person is a member of a "group" that is recognized in federal law. Over the past fifteen years, federal Medicaid policy has changed to permit states to offer Medicaid services to more groups of individuals who do not actually receive public assistance payments. Even though the program is still means-tested, new mandates and options have been added so that individuals and families who have income above the poverty line can pass through the portal. Eligibility is the "portal" through which people must pass in order to obtain Medicaid services.