New Jersey Home Care Medicaid

Last updated: August 21, 2026 Jurisdiction: New Jersey

MLTSS can fund care outside a nursing home

New Jersey’s managed long-term-services program is MLTSS, part of NJ FamilyCare. DMAHS says MLTSS is designed to expand home- and community-based services and uses managed-care organizations to coordinate services in the home, assisted living, community residential services, and nursing facilities (New Jersey MLTSS overview).

The MLTSS application guide says the program provides comprehensive care in assisted-living facilities, group homes, nursing homes, or a person’s own home. Its stated goal is to enable people who need nursing-home level of care to live in the location of their choice with the care they need, rather than making facility residence a prerequisite for applying (2026 MLTSS application guidance).

For adults, the threshold is still nursing-facility level of care: New Jersey identifies hands-on assistance with three or more activities of daily living, or cognitive deficits requiring supervision and cueing with three or more activities of daily living, as its published clinical standard. The fact that care will be delivered at home does not eliminate the clinical and financial eligibility analysis (New Jersey MLTSS clinical criteria).

Managed care coordinates the service array

New Jersey’s Division of Disability Services describes MLTSS as administered through an NJ FamilyCare managed-care organization and intended to coordinate individually based support services so consumers can remain in the community. The division’s description specifically notes that MLTSS can provide comprehensive support services, including private-duty nursing, to eligible adults with disabilities (New Jersey Disability Services MLTSS page).

The DMAHS MLTSS resources page points consumers to plan links and member handbooks, a service dictionary, PACE, and the Comprehensive Medicaid Waiver. That is a useful reminder that the exact service authorization and provider network can depend on the plan and on the person’s assessed needs, even though the state establishes the overall eligibility framework (New Jersey MLTSS resources).

Other New Jersey waiver pathways

For people with developmental disabilities, the Division of Developmental Disabilities administers two Medicaid waiver programs under the Comprehensive Medicaid Waiver: the Community Care Program and the Supports Program. The division states that enrollment in either requires age 21 or older, Medicaid eligibility, and functional eligibility for Division services, with program-specific rules in addition to MLTSS (New Jersey DDD programs and services).

The official DDD programs page states there is no waiting list to enroll in the Supports Program, but that statement concerns the Supports Program rather than a blanket assurance of immediate MLTSS service availability. Families should ask the county agency and prospective managed-care plan about current authorization, provider, and enrollment conditions (New Jersey DDD programs and services).

Home-care route: MLTSS is New Jersey’s main managed-care LTSS route for eligible people at nursing-facility level of care, with services capable of being delivered in the home or other community settings (DMAHS MLTSS).

For income and resource planning before an MLTSS application, see New Jersey Medicaid Asset Limits. A plan or agency can confirm current service availability and the correct referral path.

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MLTSS can fund care outside a nursing home

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