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Home and Community Based Alternatives
(HCBA)
Waiver
 

The HCBA Waiver is a MediCal waiver program that makes it possible for people who have serious, medically intensive disabilities to live at home instead of living in a nursing home.

The HCBA Waiver does two big things:

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1. For adults: it directly pays for nurses to take care of a participant at home.

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2. For children under 18: it provides "institutional deeming" so that kids who don't qualify for MediCal under the normal income rules can get care from nurses at home.

People who are enrolled in the HCBA Waiver need 24/7 care.


Waiver Personal Care Services (WPCS) allows HCBA Waiver participants to hire caregivers who are not nurses. 

 

HCBA Waiver participants can choose to get their care from nurses, from IHSS/WPCS workers, or from any combination of the two.  The important thing is to make sure that people get the care they need to live at home instead of in a nursing home.

HCBA WAIVER WAITING LIST

The HCBA Waiver has a limit on how many people can be enrolled in the program.
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If you apply for the HCBA Waiver, you won't be able to get care immediately. All new applications are being placed on a waiting list. 
If you need help from the HCBA Waive you should still apply - but know that it will be months or maybe even years until you can enroll in the program.
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The waitlist is a policy failure - it means that people can't get the care they need to live at home with their families.
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