What is Georgia's Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program?
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The Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program (EDWP) is Georgia's Medicaid waiver that pays for care at home for people who would otherwise need a nursing home. It is delivered two ways, CCSP and SOURCE, and the case management that holds it together is billed at a Traditional or an Enhanced tier.
What the waiver pays for
EDWP pays for the everyday help that keeps someone in their own home when their care needs would otherwise mean a nursing home. That includes a helper for bathing, dressing and meals, home-delivered meals, adult day health, respite so a family caregiver can rest, an emergency response pendant, intermittent nursing visits, small changes to the house like a ramp or grab bars, and a stipend for a family caregiver who lives with the member.
To use any of it, a person has to meet two tests: a nursing-home level of care, assessed with a form called the DON-R, and Medicaid’s financial rules. A diagnosis on its own does not qualify anyone, and neither does age.
The two axes people mix up
There are two different questions here, and almost everyone runs them together.
The first is how the waiver is delivered. Georgia runs EDWP two ways. Under CCSP, the home and community services are coordinated on their own and the member keeps their own doctor. Under SOURCE, primary medical care is folded in with the home services and the member sees a SOURCE primary care physician. Same waiver, same menu of services, different model.
The second is which tier of case management is billed – Traditional or Enhanced. Enhanced is the higher-touch tier, for members whose care needs close coordination with a physician.
Knowing which of the two questions you are actually asking saves a lot of confusion on the phone.
Who pays
Medicaid pays the case management agency directly. No bill for case management ever reaches the member or the family. The service providers – the agency that sends the helper, the meal provider, the day center – are paid the same way, under the waiver.
Everything in this section
- What the waiver covers The services Georgia's EDWP waiver pays for at home, from a personal support worker to home-delivered meals, and how each one gets into a care plan. Draft
- CCSP vs SOURCE CCSP and SOURCE are the two ways Georgia delivers the same waiver. What differs is your doctor, the income rules, and whether medical care is built in. Draft
- Traditional vs Enhanced Traditional and Enhanced are the two tiers of EDWP case management. What each tier means in practice, and how a member ends up in one rather than the other. Draft
- Which Georgia waiver Georgia runs several Medicaid home and community waivers. How to tell EDWP, ICWP, NOW and COMP, and GAPP apart, and who each one is built for. Draft
- The case manager's role What an EDWP case manager does month to month, and the Georgia rule that gives a member the right to choose their case management agency and to change it. Draft
- Case management vs home care A case management agency arranges, coordinates and monitors waiver care. A home care agency employs and sends the helper. Two different jobs, two different contracts. Draft
- PACE vs CCSP PACE and CCSP are different models for keeping someone out of a nursing home. What separates them, and where Georgia currently stands on PACE. Not yet written
Questions people ask about this
Is EDWP the same thing as CCSP?
Not quite. EDWP is the waiver. CCSP is one of the two ways Georgia delivers it, and SOURCE is the other. People often say CCSP when they mean the waiver as a whole, because CCSP is the older and better-known name.
Does EDWP replace Medicare?
No. Medicare stays exactly as it is and keeps paying for doctors, hospital stays and short courses of skilled care. EDWP is Medicaid, and it pays for the ongoing help at home that Medicare does not cover. Many members have both.
Does a family have to pay for case management?
No. Medicaid pays the case management agency directly for case management. No bill for case management goes to the member or to the family.
Is there a waiting list for EDWP?
There often is. The waiver has a limited number of funded slots, so an eligible person may be placed on a list before services start. A realistic timeline from first call to services beginning is two to six months.
Related questions
- Staying home instead of a nursing home Often yes. If someone meets Georgia's nursing-home level of care, a Medicaid waiver can pay for that care at home instead. Here is how it works.
- CCSP vs SOURCE CCSP and SOURCE are the two ways Georgia delivers the same waiver. What differs is your doctor, the income rules, and whether medical care is built in.
- Traditional vs Enhanced Traditional and Enhanced are the two tiers of EDWP case management. What each tier means in practice, and how a member ends up in one rather than the other.
- Do I qualify? Two tests decide eligibility for Georgia's Elderly and Disabled Waiver: nursing-home level of care and Medicaid financial rules. Work through both here.