From Medicaid application to your first aide visit, in plain language.
Managed Long-Term Care is how most New Yorkers with Medicaid get long-term home care. The steps are confusing the first time. Here is how it works, and where Priority Cares can help.
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Someone from Priority Cares will call you back. If it is urgent, call (718) 400-6166.
Most long-term home care in New York is paid for by Medicaid, usually through a Managed Long-Term Care (MLTC) plan. Here is the path, in plain language. We are glad to walk you through it, free.
In New York City, most older adults and people with disabilities apply through the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA); some people apply through NY State of Health instead. Outside the city, you apply through your county Department of Social Services. If you are unsure which applies, ask us and we will walk through it with you.
Before Medicaid approves long-term home care, the New York Independent Assessor (NYIA) does a nurse assessment and a short clinical appointment. You schedule it through New York Medicaid Choice. It replaced the old CFEEC process.
If you also have Medicare and need care for more than 120 days, you will usually join an MLTC plan. Compare plans on the home care agencies they work with near you, languages, and how quickly they assess new members.
The plan does its own assessment, sets a care plan and hours, and sends a licensed home care agency from its network. We can help you prepare for that visit and follow up if hours seem too low.
We are a NYS DOH-approved NHTD and TBI waiver provider in all five boroughs, and we give free Medicaid and MLTC guidance. For aide hours we connect you with a licensed home care agency. Waiver services →
NHTD Community Integration Counseling for current NHTD participants, plus free guidance. Long Island →
Free Medicaid and MLTC guidance and a connection to a licensed home care agency.
In Chemung, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe and Ontario counties Priority Cares is a licensed home care agency. Ask us whether we work with your plan. Rochester region →
We are not the agency that sends aides in New York City, Long Island or Westchester. We will connect you with a licensed home care agency and help you through the Medicaid and MLTC steps, so the hours you are approved for actually start.
What is the difference? A personal care aide (PCA) helps with bathing, dressing, meals, light housekeeping and getting around. A home health aide (HHA) has more training and can also help with some health-related tasks under a nurse's supervision. Your plan's assessment decides which one, and how many hours.
Questions worth asking any home care agency:
Managed Long-Term Care (MLTC) is how most New Yorkers who have Medicaid, and usually Medicare too, receive long-term home care. The plan assesses needs, authorizes hours and arranges care through licensed home care agencies in its network.
Generally, adults with Medicaid who are assessed by the New York Independent Assessor (NYIA) as needing community-based long-term care for more than 120 days. Most MLTC members also have Medicare.
New York Medicaid Choice lists the plans in your county. Compare the home care agencies each plan works with near you, languages spoken, and how quickly the plan does its own assessment.
No. Our home care licence covers Chemung, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe and Ontario counties. Downstate we give free Medicaid and MLTC guidance and connect you with a licensed home care agency; in New York City we are also an approved NHTD and TBI waiver provider.
You can ask the plan for a reassessment and you have appeal rights. We can help you understand the notice you received and what to ask for next.
Tell us which step you are on and we will help you with the next one.
Talk to us → or call (718) 400-6166