This guide walks through the two Medicaid programs that pay for non-skilled home care in Louisiana — the Community Choices Waiver (CCW) and Long-Term Personal Care Services (LT-PCS) — in plain English. We'll cover who qualifies, what each one pays for, how to start an application, and what the wait list really looks like in 2026.
What is a Medicaid waiver, in plain English?
A Medicaid waiver lets your state use Medicaid dollars to pay for long-term care in a person's home or community instead of in a nursing facility. The federal government "waives" its usual rule that long-term care has to happen in an institution, so qualifying seniors can get bathing help, companion visits, meal preparation, and other daily-living support right at the kitchen table.
Louisiana runs several waivers, but two cover the kind of non-skilled, in-home help most Baton Rouge families are looking for: the Community Choices Waiver (CCW) and Long-Term Personal Care Services (LT-PCS). They sit side by side. Many families end up using one or the other — and sometimes one while waiting for the other.
CCW: Community Choices Waiver
Who it's for
CCW is designed for adults 65 and older (and adults with disabilities 21+) who would otherwise qualify for nursing-facility level of care, but who want to stay in their home or a community setting. Your loved one has to meet both a financial test (income and asset limits set by Louisiana Medicaid) and a functional test (a level-of-care assessment that confirms nursing-facility level of need).
What it covers
- •Personal care attendant services (bathing, dressing, transfers, toileting)
- •Companion and supervision services
- •Respite care so a family caregiver can rest
- •Adult day health care
- •Environmental modifications (grab bars, ramps, bathroom safety)
- •Transition services if a loved one is moving home from a facility
- •Support coordination — a person whose job is to help your family navigate the program
How to apply
CCW is administered by the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Aging and Adult Services (OAAS). Families typically begin by calling the OAAS intake line and asking for a Community Choices Waiver application and level-of-care assessment. The Capital Area Agency on Aging (CAAA) — Baton Rouge's official Aging and Disability Resource Center — can also walk you through the first call.
Wait list reality
Be prepared for a wait. Louisiana's CCW has historically had a multi-year wait list — some families wait two to five years before a slot opens. That doesn't mean you shouldn't apply. It means you should apply now even if you don't need the help today, and use LT-PCS (below) or private pay in the meantime.
LT-PCS: Long-Term Personal Care Services
Who it's for
LT-PCS serves Medicaid-eligible adults who need help with the activities of daily living but don't necessarily need nursing-facility level of care. Like CCW, there's a financial test and a functional assessment — but the bar for the functional side is generally lower, which is one reason families often start here.
What it covers
LT-PCS pays for personal care attendant services in the home — bathing, dressing, toileting, transfers, light meal prep, and the supervision needed to keep daily life safe. It does not include the broader bundle CCW offers (no environmental modifications, no transition services). The number of approved hours per week depends on the assessed level of need.
How to apply
LT-PCS is also administered through Louisiana Medicaid and OAAS. The intake process starts the same way as CCW — through the OAAS intake line and the Capital Area Agency on Aging. A nurse or assessor will visit the home to evaluate your loved one's daily-living needs.
How LT-PCS differs from CCW
LT-PCS is a Louisiana Medicaid state plan service — not a waiver. That difference matters because state plan services don't have the same kind of capped wait list a waiver has. Families generally access LT-PCS faster than CCW, but with a narrower set of services and (often) fewer weekly hours. For many Baton Rouge families, the right move is to apply for CCW today, accept LT-PCS while you wait, and switch (or layer) once a CCW slot opens.
Need help navigating Louisiana Medicaid? We can guide you.
Eligibility — financial AND functional requirements
Both CCW and LT-PCS require two tests: financial and functional. The financial test is Louisiana Medicaid eligibility — income and asset limits set by the state (TODO: VERIFY CURRENT 2026 FIGURES with ldh.la.gov before publish). The functional test is a level-of-care assessment performed by an OAAS nurse or assessor. CCW requires a nursing-facility level of need; LT-PCS uses a generally lower bar. The Capital Area Agency on Aging in Baton Rouge can help screen for both at no cost.
How to apply through OAAS in Louisiana (step by step)
- Call the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Aging and Adult Services (OAAS) intake line — TODO: VERIFY CURRENT FIGURES (1-877-456-1146 historically; confirm with ldh.la.gov).
- Connect with the Capital Area Agency on Aging (CAAA) — Baton Rouge's Aging and Disability Resource Center — for free counseling.
- Complete the Medicaid financial application (income and asset documentation).
- Complete the OAAS level-of-care assessment, performed in the home.
- Get matched with a support coordinator who builds the care plan and authorizes services.
- Choose a licensed HCBS provider (we are one) to deliver the care.
The wait list reality — what to expect
Louisiana's CCW has historically had a multi-year wait list — many Baton Rouge families wait two to five years before a slot opens. That doesn't mean you shouldn't apply. It means you should apply now even if you don't need the help today, and use LT-PCS or private pay in the meantime. LT-PCS, as a state plan service, generally moves much faster — many families get on services within a few months. Wait times shift year to year; the Capital Area Agency on Aging can confirm current ranges.
How Aging Gracefully accepts CCW and LT-PCS waiver clients
Aging Gracefully Home Care is licensed in Louisiana under LAC 48:I Chapter 50 as an HCBS Personal Care Attendant agency. We serve both private-pay and HCBS waiver families across East Baton Rouge Parish. When a family is approved for CCW or LT-PCS, the support coordinator's authorization is sent to us, we staff the case, and Louisiana Medicaid pays us for authorized hours. Families that start with us privately and then qualify for CCW or LT-PCS later do not have to switch agencies — the same caregiver keeps coming. Our deeper how-to-pay-for-home-care guide and cost-of-home-care guide sit alongside this one.
How CCW and LT-PCS compare
| CCW (Community Choices Waiver) | LT-PCS (Long-Term Personal Care Services) | |
|---|---|---|
| Program type | Medicaid waiver (1915(c)) | Medicaid state plan service |
| Wait list | Historically multi-year — apply early | Generally faster to access |
| Services covered | Personal care, companion, respite, adult day, home modifications, transition support, coordination | Personal care attendant services in the home |
| Income limits | TODO: Verify current 2026 figures with Louisiana Medicaid (ldh.la.gov) | TODO: Verify current 2026 figures with Louisiana Medicaid (ldh.la.gov) |
| Asset limits | TODO: Verify current 2026 figures with Louisiana Medicaid | TODO: Verify current 2026 figures with Louisiana Medicaid |
| Cost share | May apply based on income; ask OAAS at intake | May apply based on income; ask OAAS at intake |
| Best for | Seniors who would otherwise need nursing-facility care and want a fuller home-based bundle | Seniors who need daily personal care help but not nursing-facility level of care |
How Aging Gracefully helps families navigate this
We're not a Medicaid enrollment agency, and we'd be doing your family a disservice to pretend otherwise. What we do is sit with you, explain what we know about CCW and LT-PCS in plain English, point you to the right people at OAAS and the Capital Area Agency on Aging, and help you keep your loved one safe at home while you wait for paperwork to move.
TODO: Confirm Aging Gracefully's Louisiana Medicaid provider enrollment status before publishing. If enrolled: "Once approval comes through, we accept Medicaid waiver and LT-PCS clients directly — so the same caregiver your family already trusts can keep showing up." If NOT yet enrolled: "We're working toward Louisiana Medicaid waiver provider enrollment so families can use these benefits directly with us. In the meantime, we can serve your family privately while we walk you through the state process."
Other ways to pay for home care
- •VA Aid & Attendance — for wartime veterans and surviving spouses. See our VA benefits guide at /blog/in-home-care-for-veterans.
- •Long-term care insurance — most policies cover non-medical home care. Pull the policy out of the drawer and read it, or call us and we'll read it with you.
- •Private pay — the most flexible option and often how families bridge a Medicaid wait list. See our cost guide at /blog/cost-of-home-care-louisiana.
