Having Medicaid Isn't the Same as Having the Waiver
The most expensive misunderstanding in Georgia home care: families paying out of pocket for help they were already entitled to, because they assumed Medicaid covered it.
September 8, 2026 · 2 min read
Almost every week, someone calls our office and says a version of the same sentence: "Mom has Medicaid, so why are we paying for her caregiver?"
It is a fair question, and the answer catches people off guard. Regular Medicaid and the programme that pays for a caregiver in your home are two different approvals. Having the first does not give you the second.
What regular Medicaid covers
Georgia Medicaid covers doctors, hospitals, prescriptions, lab work — the medical side of things. If your mother is admitted overnight, Medicaid is involved. If she needs someone to help her bathe on a Tuesday morning, it generally is not.
What the waiver covers
The waiver is a separate programme layered on top. In Georgia it is called EDWP — the Elderly & Disabled Waiver Program — and it exists for one purpose: to pay for care at home instead of care in a nursing facility.
EDWP comes in two forms:
- SOURCE, which has a lower income limit, no waiting list, and assigns a primary care doctor who coordinates with your case manager.
- CCSP, which allows a considerably higher income and protects a spouse's income and savings, but can carry a waiting list.
Both cover the same underlying services: personal support, respite for family caregivers, skilled nursing, adult day health, home-delivered meals, and an emergency response system.
Why this costs families money
Because the two approvals sound like one thing, families often go months — sometimes years — paying privately for help their loved one qualified to receive. We have met families who had spent well over ten thousand dollars before anyone told them the waiver existed.
If you have Medicaid and you are still paying out of pocket for help at home, that gap is worth ten minutes of your time to close.
How to find out where you stand
You do not need to understand the programme to check. The two questions that decide most cases are monthly income and how much hands-on help the person needs day to day.
Our eligibility check asks seven plain questions and tells you which programme is the likely fit, or what is standing in the way. It takes about two minutes, saves nothing, and does not ask for your name.
If it turns out the waiver could cover your family, we handle the application from there — gathering the medical records, working with your support coordination agency, and keeping you updated. That part costs you nothing.
Wondering whether the Medicaid waiver could cover care for your family?
Check in two minutes