Help Staying in the Community

Cash benefits, health coverage, personal care attendants, and other programs and services can help you live successfully and independently in the community. This section introduces some of these and shows how they can help.

Cash Benefits

Money is very important for being able to live on your own in the community. Money pays for rent, food, and the other things you need. When you live in a long-term care facility, such as a nursing home, the facility usually takes care of your budget. But when you live in the community, you need to manage your own money or get somebody who can help you manage it.

Cash benefits are monthly payments from government programs that can help people who qualify pay for their needs. Social Security runs the two major cash benefits programs for people with disabilities:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) gives monthly payments to people with disabilities who have low income and low resources. You do not need to have worked in the past to get SSI. Learn more in DB101’s SSI article.
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) gives monthly payments to people with disabilities who qualify because they used to work. Learn more in DB101’s SSDI article.

Health Coverage

Health coverage is another key to living in the community. Here are a few ways you might qualify for coverage:

• If you get SSDI, you also get Medicare coverage after you’ve been getting SSDI for a couple of years. You may also qualify for Medicaid depending on your disability, living situation, income, and resources. Learn more in DB101’s Medicare article.
• If you get SSI, you automatically get Medicaid. Learn more in DB101’s Disability-Based Medicaid article.
• If your income is under 100% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) ($1,305 per month for an individual), you may qualify for Medicaid through Georgia Pathways to Coverage. With Pathways, there are no limits to how much money or other resources you have, and you need to do qualifying activities (like work, school, volunteering, or vocational rehabilitation). Learn more in DB101’s Pathways to Coverage article.

Medicaid Waiver Programs

Georgia has four Medicaid waiver programs for people with disabilities who need a level of care normally provided by an institution, like a nursing home or a hospital. These waiver programs offer extra Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) that go beyond the regular Medicaid benefits, including things like assistive technology, mentoring, case management, non-medical transportation, mental health counseling, supported employment services, and personal assistance services. Because these services are meant to help you live in the community, they are often called Home and Community Based Services (HCBS).

The Medicaid waivers in Georgia are:

• The Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program (EDWP)
• The Independent Care Waiver Program (ICWP)
• The New Options Waiver Program (NOW)
• The Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP)

Each waiver program offers a slightly different set of services and supports. Get more information in DB101’s Medicaid waivers article, including who qualifies, how to apply, and more details about the services each program includes.

Non-Medicaid Home and Community Based Services

People who are 60 or older may qualify for non-Medicaid Home and Community Based services from Georgia’s Division of Aging Services, whether or not they qualify for a Medicaid waiver. These services can include personal care assistance, like help with bathing, eating, and light housekeeping; home-delivered meals; transportation; and more.

Whether you can get these services depends on your condition, income, how urgently you need care, and which services are available in your area. There is usually a waiting list for services.

To learn more about non-Medicaid Home and Community Based Services, contact your local Area Agency on Aging. They can also help you figure out if applying for a Medicaid waiver or non-Medicaid Home and Community Based Services would be better for you.

Community Organizations

Community organizations can give you advice and support to live independently in the community.

Centers for Independent Living

Centers for Independent Living (CILs) offer advice, guidance, and services to help you live independently in the community. Their services can include:

• Information about public programs that can help you live independently and about how to connect with service providers in your area.
• Support groups and mentorship to let you share your concerns and learn from other people with disabilities on how to stay as happy and healthy as possible.
• Independent living skills training to help you live on your own.
• Transition services to help you move out of an institution or long-term care facility and into the community, including home modifications.
• Youth support to help children with disabilities live in the community. This can help keep families together and support youth as they prepare to live independently as adults.

Find your local Center for Independent Living.

Tools for Life

The Tools for Life (TFL) program has information about assistive technology (AT), which can help people with disabilities in their daily living, work, education, and recreational activities. TFL can help you figure out the answers to questions like:

• What types of AT might help me?
• Where can I try out AT?
• How can I buy the AT that I need?
• What types of AT can I rent or borrow?

TFL services include AT demonstrations, lending libraries, public awareness, information, and trainings. The TFL program is a great way to start learning about assistive technology.

If you get help from a Medicaid waiver program, you may be able to get assistive technology you need paid for by Medicaid. If you don’t get Medicaid funding, Tools for Life has a list of other funding options and information.