Home Health Care
Home Health Care is a program that dispatches professional caregivers to residents with mobility issues, allowing them to live safely and independently in their own homes instead of a nursing home.
Features
A Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA) from an accredited home care agency will visit your home. The agency is regulated by the New Jersey Department of Health, and the individual caregiver (CHHA) is managed by the New Jersey Board of Nursing.
- Personal Hygiene Support: Assistance with bathing, hair washing, dressing, oral care, and toileting.
- Mobility Assistance: Help with transferring from bed to wheelchair and walking indoors or outdoors.
- Nutritional Management: Meal preparation, feeding assistance, and special diet management.
- Household Support: Light cleaning of the patient’s living space, laundry, grocery shopping, and medication reminders (Note: Caregivers cannot directly administer medication).
- Professionalism: All services are performed according to a “Plan of Care” established under the supervision of a Registered Nurse (RN).
Eligibility (2026)
To receive home health care services, both financial and medical requirements must be met.
Financial Requirements
- Home health care services require eligibility for Long-Term Care Medicaid (MLTSS), rather than just simple general Medicaid (NJ FamilyCare). Even if you already possess general Medicaid, additional enrollment is required through an MLTSS clinical assessment.
- Income Limit: Monthly income of $2,982 or less.
- If income exceeds this limit, eligibility can be secured through a “Qualified Income Trust (QIT).”
- Asset Limit: Total assets of $2,000 or less.
- One primary residence and one automobile are excluded from the asset calculation.
Medical Requirements
- Nursing Facility Level of Care: Must receive a clinical determination that independent living is impossible and that assistance from another person is required for at least three Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).
- Doctor’s Prescription: A physician must issue a medical opinion stating that “home health care services are necessary.”
Application Process
- Consultation and Pre-screening: Contact your local county Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) for an initial telephone screening.
- Financial Eligibility Review: Financial qualification for Medicaid is conducted through the County Board of Social Services.
- Clinical Assessment: A nurse from a Managed Care Organization (MCO) visits the home to assess the patient’s condition (ADLs) and determine the number of hours available per week.
- Agency Assignment: Select a home care agency to provide services for the approved hours.
Commencement of Service: A caregiver is dispatched to begin care according to the fixed schedule.
*The processing time for home health care services varies by case. If services are needed urgently, please contact the ADRC or your 담당 CSSA (Care Management agency) regarding Fast-Track processing.
Contact
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