Alternative care

Program info

The Alternative Care (AC) program provides home-and community-based services to people who need nursing home level of care but choose to live in the community. The Alternative Care program provides many of the same services as the Elderly Waiver program. Alternative Care is for people with low income and assets who are not eligible for Medical Assistance.

More details are in the brochure Seniors can get help paying for services to stay in their homes (PDF).

Eligibility

To qualify, you must:

• Be age 65 or older
• Need nursing home level of care as determined by the Long-Term Care Consultation process
• Not have enough income and assets to pay for a nursing home stay lasting longer than 135 days
• Need services that Alternative Care can provide for less than 75 percent of what Medical Assistance would pay for an older person with a similar level of need
• Have no other way to pay for the services.

Services

Covered services may include:

• Adult day services
• Case management
• Chore services
• Companion services
• Consumer-directed community supports
• Family caregiver support services, including respite
• Home health aides
• Home-delivered meals
• Homemaker services
• Home and vehicle modifications
• Individual community living supports (ICLS)
• Non-medical transportation
• Nutrition services
• Personal emergency response systems
• Personal care assistance
• Skilled nursing visits
• Specialized equipment and supplies.

Apply

To apply, you can contact either the:

• Long-Term Care Consultation contact in your county
• Senior LinkAge Line at 800-333-2433