NHTD Waiver Program

 The NHTD waiver program is a home and community-based program that helps New York´s Medicaid-eligible seniors and people with physical disabilities receive comprehensive services they need while they live in a community-based setting, rather than in a nursing home, congregate care setting, or other institution.

Program participants receive services based on their unique strengths, needs, choices, and goals. The participants are the primary decision makers. Participants choose the services they receive, the service providers they will work with, and the outcomes they will achieve.

The NHTD Medicaid waiver was developed based on the philosophy that individuals with physical disabilities and seniors have the same rights as others. This includes the right to be in control of their own lives, encounter and manage risks and learn from their experiences. This is balanced with the waiver 

program´s responsibility to ensure the waiver participants´ health and welfare in the community.

The individual is the primary decision maker and works in cooperation with providers and others they may choose to develop a Service Plan. This process leads to personal empowerment, increased independence, greater community inclusion, self-reliance and meaningful productive activities. Participant satisfaction is a significant measure of success of the NHTD program.

The NHTD program is available to New York State residents who meet the following criteria:

• Eligible for community-based Medicaid,
• Assessed as needing nursing home level of care, and
• Either between the ages of 18-64 and have a verified physical disability or are age 65 or older when applying to the program.

The individual must also be able to live safely in the community with the services and supports offered through Medicaid, the waiver program and other community resources.

• For individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (HCBS/TBI)
• One component of a comprehensive strategy developed by the NYS Department of Health to prevent unnecessary entrances into nursing homes and to help individuals leave nursing homes to live in the community
• Provides 11 Medicaid-funded services needed to assist participants to live in community-based settings and achieve maximum independence; services are used in combination with existing Medicaid services
• Participants may be eligible for rent subsidies and housing supports and limited one-time payment for furniture and household supplies.
• Each recipient must be given the choice of living in the community or in a nursing facility, and – if choosing the community – a living arrangement that can meet his or her needs.

   Who is eligible?

• Diagnosed with TBI or a related condition,
• Eligible for nursing facility level of care,
• Enrolled in the Medicaid program, and
• Between 18 and 64 years of age, and injured after the age of 1