Georgia Medicaid Waiver Guide

Georgia offers two Medicaid waivers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: the New Options Waiver (NOW) and the Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP). The Department of Community Health (DCH) administers Medicaid and delegates day-to-day operation of both waivers to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD). Georgia calls its queue the “planning list,” and there are actually two of them — one for NOW and one for COMP. The most important thing to understand is how Georgia decides who moves: priority is based on level of need, particularly health and safety and the strength of your caregiver and support system, not on how long you have been waiting.

To be eligible for NOW or COMP, a person must have an intellectual disability — or a closely related developmental disability such as autism, cerebral palsy, or epilepsy — that substantially impairs intellectual or adaptive functioning. Georgia uses two different age cutoffs: the disability must have originated at birth or during the developmental years, by age 18 for an intellectual disability, or by age 22 for a related developmental disability. You must also be Medicaid eligible and require the level of care provided in an intermediate care facility. The qualifying definition is set in Georgia Code § 37-1-1.

Georgia calls it the planning list, and it is split in two: one for NOW and one for COMP. Assignment depends on several factors including your own preference. Prioritization is by need, not by time waited — DBHDD reviews two key areas, health and safety, and your caregiver and support system. The department has been implementing a more objective tool that captures unmet need, functional capacity, existing supports, and the impact of behavioral and medical challenges.

Type

Two planning lists, prioritized by level of need

Typical timeline

Waits are long — commonly many years, and Georgia's own reporting has described a large share of adults on the list waiting six years or more. But because ranking is by assessed need rather than date, the lever that actually matters is keeping DBHDD informed when your circumstances change. Ask your Regional Field Office for the current planning list figures rather than relying on a number published elsewhere.

How to check status

Contact your DBHDD Regional Field Office, or call DBHDD at (404) 657-2252, to confirm which planning list you are on and how your level of need was assessed.

1. Contact your DBHDD Regional Field Office

   Georgia's intake runs through regional field offices. They take the application and guide you through pre-eligibility and eligibility.

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2. Expect a screening assessment within about two weeks

   After DBHDD receives an application, staff schedule a screening assessment — generally within 14 business days. If you have not heard back in that window, follow up.

3. Establish Medicaid eligibility separately

   Waiver services are Medicaid-funded, and the family plays an active role in getting Medicaid in place. DBHDD field offices can assist, but the Department of Community Health makes the actual Medicaid determination.

4. Go onto a planning list — NOW or COMP

   Once found pre-eligible you are placed on a planning list. Which one depends on several factors including your preference. NOW has a lower funding cap than COMP, so if residential or more intensive support is likely, discuss COMP explicitly.

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5. Keep DBHDD updated on changes

   Because priority is driven by health and safety and by your caregiver situation, a change — a caregiver's illness, a housing loss, escalating behavioral or medical needs — is what can move you. Report it rather than waiting quietly.

• The person's age, diagnosis, and county of residence.
• Medicaid status or whether you still need to apply.
• Current supports, urgent needs, and living situation.
• School, medical, evaluation, or eligibility documents.
• Questions about waitlists, timelines, and next steps.

Exact covered services depend on the waiver, assessed need, Medicaid rules, funding, and state program requirements. Confirm services, availability, and payment acceptance with the state, support coordinator, and provider.

Georgia offers participant direction under both NOW and COMP, letting people and families take budget and employer authority over some of their services rather than using only agency providers. Ask your support coordinator which services can be participant-directed under the waiver you are enrolled in.

1. Early childhood

   Babies Can't Wait is Georgia's early intervention program for children under 3, separate from the NOW and COMP waivers.

2. School age

   School districts provide special education under an IEP. Waiver services are separate from and additional to what school provides. Apply for DD services well before school services end.

3. By age 18 or 22 — know which applies

   Onset must be documented by 18 for an intellectual disability, or by 22 for a closely related developmental disability such as autism, cerebral palsy, or epilepsy. Make sure the records establishing onset exist before the relevant birthday.

4. Adulthood

   Adults make up the bulk of Georgia's planning list. If a caregiver is aging or a support system is thinning, tell DBHDD — caregiver and support system status is one of the two areas that drives prioritization.

If eligibility or a waiver service is denied, reduced, or ended, you have the right to appeal and to request a Medicaid fair hearing within the deadline printed on your notice. The Georgia Advocacy Office is the state's independent, federally mandated protection and advocacy system and provides free help.

DBHDD

Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities — runs the NOW and COMP waivers day to day.

DCH

Department of Community Health — Georgia's Medicaid agency. It administers Medicaid and makes eligibility determinations; DBHDD cannot.

NOW

New Options Waiver — home and community-based supports with a lower funding cap than COMP.

COMP

Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program — the higher-cap waiver, and the one that includes residential supports.

Planning list

Georgia's term for its waiting lists. There are two, one per waiver, prioritized by assessed level of need rather than by date.

Regional Field Office

The DBHDD office where applications start and where planning list and eligibility questions are answered.

ICF level of care

The intermediate care facility level of care you must be found to need in order to qualify for a waiver.