What services does the Georgia EDWP waiver cover?
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Georgia's EDWP waiver pays for help at home: a personal support worker, home-delivered meals, adult day health, respite, intermittent skilled nursing, an emergency response system, home modifications, alternative living services, and a stipend for a family caregiver who lives with the member. A case manager writes them into a care plan.
What the waiver is for
EDWP pays for the ordinary, unglamorous help that decides whether someone can stay in their own home. Not surgery, not hospital care – those are Medicare and regular Medicaid. This is the shower that is no longer safe alone, the meals nobody is cooking, the daughter who has not slept properly in a year, the step at the front door that has become a trap.
Each service below exists because it replaces some part of what a nursing home would otherwise do.
The rule that surprises families
The case management agency does not deliver any of these services. It arranges them.
The case manager assesses what is needed, writes it into a plan of care, identifies which provider agencies in the area offer that service, and lets the member choose among them. Then a separate contracted provider – a home care agency, a meal provider, a day center, a builder for a ramp – actually does the work, and the case manager monitors whether it is happening.
That separation is deliberate. The person deciding how much care someone needs is not the person paid for the hours.
How a service gets into a plan
Three things have to line up. The assessment has to show the need, using the DON-R for level of care and the DMA-6 for the medical picture. The service has to be one the waiver covers. And the plan of care has to be approved – by the member’s own physician, or by the case management agency’s medical director, under General Services §602.11.
Nothing here is a promise that a particular service will be approved for a particular person. What follows describes what each service is, who it is for, and how it gets into a plan.
Everything in this section
- Structured Family Caregiving Structured Family Caregiving pays a stipend to a family caregiver who lives with the member. Who qualifies, who is excluded, and the steps to apply in Georgia. Draft
- Personal support services Personal support services send a trained helper to the home for bathing, dressing, meals and light housekeeping. Who it is for and how it gets into a care plan. Draft
- Home-delivered meals Home-delivered meals bring prepared food to a waiver member who cannot shop or cook safely. Who qualifies, how it gets into a care plan and what it excludes. Draft
- Adult day health Adult day health is a supervised day program with health oversight, meals and activity. Who it suits, how it gets into a waiver care plan and what it does not cover. Draft
- Respite care Respite gives a family caregiver planned relief, either with someone coming into the home or with a short stay elsewhere. How it works under the Georgia waiver. Draft
- Skilled nursing at home Intermittent skilled nursing brings a licensed nurse to the home for tasks that need clinical training. What it covers, how it is authorized and what it is not. Draft
- Emergency response system An emergency response system is a pendant or button that summons help if a waiver member falls or has a crisis at home. How it is authorized and what it will not do. Draft
- Home modifications Home modifications under the Georgia waiver cover changes that make a home safe to live in, such as ramps, grab bars and bathroom adaptations. How they are approved. Draft
- Alternative living services Alternative living services cover placement in a licensed personal care home under Georgia's EDWP waiver, for members who can no longer be supported at home. Draft
Questions people ask about this
Can we pick the services we want from this list?
Not directly. Services go into a care plan because an assessment shows a need for them, and the plan is approved by the member's physician or the case management agency's medical director. A family can and should say what is hardest at home, because that is what the assessment is trying to capture.
Does a member get all of these services?
No. Most members use two or three. The plan is built around what the person cannot manage safely on their own, not around what the waiver theoretically covers.
Who actually delivers the services?
Separate provider agencies contracted with the state. The case management agency arranges and monitors them; it does not employ the aide, cook the meals or install the ramp.
Do families pay for these services?
No bill for case management goes to the member or the family, and waiver services in an approved plan are paid through Medicaid. Anything outside the plan is a separate matter, and a family should ask before agreeing to anything a provider offers that is not written in the plan.
Related questions
- EDWP explained EDWP is Georgia's Medicaid waiver that pays for help at home instead of a nursing home. How CCSP, SOURCE and the case management tiers fit together.
- 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.
- 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.
- What Georgia Medicaid covers at home What Georgia Medicaid pays for when an older adult needs help at home: personal support, meals, adult day health, respite, nursing and more.