Maryland Home Care Medicaid

Last updated: August 21, 2026 Jurisdiction: Maryland

Maryland has eight 1915(c) waiver programs

Maryland’s January 2026 End the Wait report says the state offers eight Medicaid 1915(c) waiver programs for targeted populations, including older adults, people with disabilities, and medically fragile children. The Office of Long Term Services and Supports operates the Community Options and Model Waivers; the Developmental Disabilities Administration operates Community Pathways, Community Supports, and Family Supports; and the Maryland State Department of Education operates the Autism Waiver with OLTSS oversight (Maryland End the Wait report).

The report identifies the remaining programs as the Brain Injury Waiver and Medical Day Care Services Waiver, alongside the eight-program system. It also discusses Community First Choice, which is a Medicaid home-and-community service pathway but is not listed as one of the eight 1915(c) waivers. Families should ask the state which service authority, care plan, and eligibility group fits the person rather than treating all “home care” as one program (Maryland End the Wait report; Maryland coverage-group guide).

Waitlist status is a real Maryland planning issue

Maryland’s report says six waiver programs have a waitlist or registry: Autism, Community Pathways, Community Supports, Family Supports, Community Options, and Model. Community Pathways, Community Supports, and Family Supports share a waitlist; Community Options has a registry; and Model has a waitlist. The report says the Brain Injury and Medical Day Care Services Waivers do not have a waitlist or registry (Maryland End the Wait report).

The state’s 2022 Waiver Programs – Waitlist and Registry Reduction Act required plans to reduce waiver waitlists by 50 percent, with the report describing a projected 50-percent Autism-registry reduction by the end of fiscal year 2024 and reductions for remaining programs by the end of fiscal year 2028. A projected reduction is not an individual enrollment date, so families should seek the current registry status and any offer or slot in writing (Maryland End the Wait report).

Financial eligibility and service availability are separate

Maryland’s coverage-group guide separately identifies HCBS Waiver and PACE participants, and its institutional manual describes medical-review forms that cover waiver and PACE requests as well as nursing-facility requests. The person may need both the applicable clinical determination and financial Medicaid eligibility; a waiver registry position does not itself decide either one (Maryland coverage-group guide; Maryland institutionalized-persons manual).

Availability snapshot: six of Maryland’s eight 1915(c) waiver programs have a waitlist or registry; the Brain Injury and Medical Day Care Services Waivers do not, according to the state’s January 2026 report (Maryland End the Wait report).

For the broader Medicaid framework, see Medicaid (Baseline). Confirm the current waiver application, clinical process, registry status, provider availability, and financial pathway directly with Maryland before making a care plan.

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Maryland has eight 1915(c) waiver programs

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