Packages & Special Offers

New Options Waiver Program (NOW) and Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP)

The New Options Waiver (NOW) and the Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP) offer

home- and community-based services for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) or developmental disabilities (DD). The Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) administers Medicaid, which delegates the day-to-day operation of the NOW/COMP Programs to the Department of Behavioral

Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), Division of Developmental Disabilities.

The DBHDD Central Office performs statewide waiver operational and daily administrative functions. The six DBHDD regional offices perform NOW/COMP waiver functions at the regional level, including intake and evaluation, preauthorization of NOW/COMP waiver services, utilization management, crisis resolution, quality management, and intervention in cases of service delivery

problems or concerns. Individuals access the NOW/COMP Program through the DBHDD regional offices or through this link. The NOW/COMP waiver serves individuals with intellectual disabilities or other closely related conditions, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism or neurological problems.

These disabilities require a level of care provided in an intermediate-care facility (ICF) for people diagnosed with I/DD. There are more than 12,000 people with developmental disabilities who are served by the NOW/COMP programs in Georgia.

Eligibility for Both Programs

Individuals who meet the level of care that would be required in an intermediate-care facility for people with intellectual disabilities (ICF-ID) may be eligible for home- and community-based services as an alternative through Georgia’s Medicaid NOW and COMP waiver programs.

To qualify for these waiver programs and be offered the choice of community-based services instead of institutional care, the individual must first meet the criteria for Medicaid payment in an institution and certain other criteria.

Specific qualifications:

• Categorically eligible Medicaid recipients
• Have a diagnosis of an intellectual disability and/or a closely related condition
• Currently receiving the level of care provided in an ICF-ID that is reimbursable under the State Plan, and for whom home- and community-based services are determined to be an appropriate alternative
• Likely to require the level of care provided in an ICF-ID that would be reimbursable under the
• State Plan in the absence of home- and community-based services that are determined to be an appropriate alternative.

NOW/COMP Waiver Program Services

Community Access Services – Group & Individual

Community Living Support Services

Community Living Support Services co-employer

Respite Services Respite In-Home Services

Specialized Medical Equipment Services

Specialized Medical Supplies Services