The waiver that pays for services delivered inside a licensed Residential Care Facility, for Medicaid-eligible adults age 21 and older with a hands-on need for help with activities of daily living.
What it covers, and what it does not
Covers: Personal care and supportive services provided by the RCF's staff.
Eligibility
- Ohio resident and U.S. citizen or qualified non-citizen
- Age 21 or older (PASSPORT and the Assisted Living Waiver primarily serve people age 60 and older in practice) and meets Nursing Facility Level of Care
- Financially eligible under Ohio's non-MAGI, aged/blind/disabled Medicaid rules (see nf_medicaid below); this is a different eligibility pathway than the MAGI-based Medicaid expansion population
Getting on the waiver
Apply through the Ohio Department of Medicaid at benefits.ohio.gov, or contact the Area Agency on Aging serving your county for a waiver assessment and to get on any waiting list.
Ask any community you are seriously considering whether it holds a current Assisted Living Waiver provider agreement, and how many current residents actually use it. A meaningful share of Cleveland-area RCFs do not participate at all, and capacity is limited even where a community does.
Source: Ohio Department of Aging: Assisted Living Waiver
