The Community Choices Waiver, explained for Baton Rouge families

What is the Community Choices Waiver (CCW)?

The Community Choices Waiver (CCW) is a Louisiana Medicaid home and community-based waiver for adults 21 and older who meet long-term care Medicaid eligibility and nursing facility level of care, paying for services that help them stay at home instead of moving to a nursing home; it does not provide help 24 hours a day.

The CCW is run by LDH's Office of Aging and Adult Services. It is the closest thing Louisiana has to a long-term home care benefit, but it supplements family care rather than replacing it.

What services does the CCW cover?

The waiver pays for support coordination and a menu of services matched to a person's plan of care.

• Support coordination
• Personal assistance services
• Adult day health care
• Assistive devices and medical supplies
• Personal emergency response system
• Assistive technology (tablet)
• Environmental accessibility adaptations
• Physical, occupational and speech therapy
• Nursing and skilled maintenance therapy
• Home-delivered meals
• Monitored in-home caregiving
• Caregiver temporary support (respite)
• Transition services for people leaving a nursing home
• Financial management services for self-directed workers

Monitored in-home caregiving and caregiver temporary support are the services Baton Rouge caregivers ask about most, since they pay for a family caregiver's role or give that caregiver a break. A support coordinator builds the plan and must review it as needs change.

Is there a waiting list for the CCW?

Yes: requests go on the Request for Services Registry, and slots are offered first to priority groups and then to everyone else in order of request date.

1. People referred by protective services who would otherwise need a nursing home because of abuse or neglect
2. People with ALS
3. People living in, or linked to, a Louisiana Permanent Supportive Housing unit
4. Nursing home residents whose stay is paid only by Medicaid
5. People approved for 32 hours of LT-PCS who would otherwise need nursing home placement (expedited)
6. Everyone else, first come, first served by request date on the Request for Services Registry

Because order depends on the request date, families should call Louisiana Options in Long-Term Care at 1-877-456-1146 as soon as a parent might qualify, even if help is not needed yet. LT-PCS can often start sooner and can serve as a bridge.

How does a Baton Rouge family apply for the CCW?

Call Louisiana Options in Long-Term Care at 1-877-456-1146 (TDD 1-877-544-9544) to request the waiver and get a level-of-care screening, and apply for Medicaid through the Louisiana Medicaid Self-Service Portal or Medicaid Customer Service at 1-888-342-6207.

The East Baton Rouge Council on Aging at (225) 923-8000 and the Capital Area Agency on Aging's resource center at (225) 922-2525 can help with the calls and forms. Keep a note of the date of your request; it is your place in line.

Can the CCW pay for assisted living?

No: the CCW serves people in their own homes or family homes and does not pay an ARCP's fees; Louisiana Medicaid has no assisted living benefit.

For a parent who could stay home with a few hours of daily help, the CCW plus adult day health care can delay or avoid a move. For one who needs supervision around the clock, the CCW alone is usually not enough, and the comparison becomes family care, an ARCP paid privately, or a nursing home.