The waiver that pays for care at home

EDWP is a Georgia Medicaid programme that pays for care at home instead of in a nursing facility. It is delivered through two models — the Community Care Services Program (CCSP) and SOURCE (Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment). Both aim to keep people safely in their own homes.

Usually not. Regular Medicaid and the waiver that pays for in-home care are two separate approvals, and most families we meet have one without the other. If you have Medicaid but are still paying out of pocket for help at home, the waiver is very likely what you are missing.

Income, mostly. SOURCE is capped at the SSI benefit rate and additionally assigns a primary care physician who coordinates with your case manager; it has no waiting list, but gives a spouse at home no financial protection. CCSP allows a much higher income, protects a spouse's income and savings, and covers the same services — but can carry a waiting list.

For SOURCE, $994 a month for one person and $1,491 for a couple where both apply. For CCSP, $2,982 a month for one person and $5,964 for a couple. These figures change every January with the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.

Countable assets must be under $2,000 for one person, or $3,000 for a couple where both apply. Crucially, the home, its contents, personal effects and one vehicle do not count. This is where most families wrongly rule themselves out — being "over the limit" on paper very often turns out not to be true.

It is not the end of the road. Georgia allows a Qualified Income Trust — often called a Miller Trust — which holds the income above the limit and makes an application possible. It is routine, and we can point you to someone who sets them up.

Someone aged 65 or over, or an adult under 65 with a physical disability, who needs an intermediate nursing facility level of care. In practice that means needing hands-on help with everyday activities such as bathing, dressing, transferring or toileting. A state assessment called the DON-R makes the final determination.

The state controls the timeline and we will not promise you a date we cannot keep. What we can say is that helping you apply costs you nothing — we gather the medical history and History & Physical, work with your support coordination agency, and keep you updated.