Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Arizona program

Arizona’s long-term care coverage for a child

Arizona’s long-term care program can cover health care and help at home. Its name is ALTCS, said “all-tecks.”

What it is

Arizona’s long-term care program can cover health care and help at home. Its name is ALTCS, said “all-tecks.”

A family can earn too much for ordinary Medicaid and still have a route through ALTCS. The difficult part is the medical assessment: your child must need a nursing-facility level of care. A cancer diagnosis alone does not settle that.

Eligibility rules
  • The child-only budget group applies to an unmarried child under 18 living where home and community services can be delivered. ALTCS itself has no upper age limit.
  • In 2026, the child’s own gross monthly income limit is $2,982. The child’s own countable resources must be no more than $2,000.
  • The medical test is immediate risk of nursing-facility or ICF/IID level of care. A nurse or social worker assesses this separately from the financial review.
  • Parents come back into the budget group if the family refuses home and community services or the setting does not qualify. The ALTCS office checks the setting and applicable budget group.
What you get
  • Full Medicaid coverage plus approved nursing and aide help at home.
  • A case manager to work out the care hours with you.
  • A separate option to pay a parent for approved hands-on care.
What the help includes
  • Approved services can include nursing, attendant care, personal care, homemaker help and in-home habilitation. Services depend on the care plan.
  • ALTCS can coexist with private insurance and pays after the work plan. The ALTCS office can explain any family payment that applies to the child’s category and setting.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the oncology social worker whether ALTCS is worth considering alongside the coverage and home-care options your child already has.
  2. Gather your child’s income and savings records, medical records and a written description of a full day and night of care.
  3. If you decide to pursue ALTCS, the social worker can help you fill in the application and prepare the description of a full day and night of care for the medical interview.

ALTCS: 888-621-6880; altcsregistration@azahcccs.gov · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • A decision usually takes about 45 days.
  • Eligibility, approval of care hours and finding an available care agency are separate steps. The ALTCS office and plan can explain current waiting times, any discharge priority and when staff could start for your child.
  • AHCCCS plans to introduce a new home-care needs tool and extraordinary-care review for ALTCS members under 18 on December 1, 2026. This concerns the services and care hours a child needs, not the separate test for getting ALTCS. Ask the case manager when your child’s next assessment will use the new process.
Good to know

The assessment compares your child’s needs with a nursing-facility level of care. It does not require your child to live in a nursing home.

Other details
  • The developmental-disabilities route requires its own eligibility decision. Leukemia is not among that division’s listed qualifying diagnoses.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could our child’s daily care needs fit ALTCS even if our family income is too high for ordinary Medicaid? What would the assessment involve, and could you help us weigh it and prepare?”

Why I’m asking: I want to know whether help at home is available without counting the parents’ income.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Register by phone or online, send the combination form, and bring the care team’s written description of daily care to the interview.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker helps you register and pushes for the medical interview to be scheduled.

The care team

The oncology team writes down what care your child needs each day: medicines, lines, feeding, monitoring, what an adult has to do and how often.

Who decides
The state’s long-term care office decides the money; a registered nurse or social worker decides the level of care at an interview.
Ask your social worker
“Can we apply for the long-term care programme for my child, and can the team write down the daily care before the nurse’s interview?”

How to apply

First step: Call 888-621-6880 or register on Health-e-Arizona Plus, and ask the oncology team to describe the daily care in writing.

  1. Call 888-621-6880 or register on Health-e-Arizona Plus this week and say the words "long term care" for a child.
  2. Ask the oncology team for a written description of the daily care your child needs before the medical interview.
  3. Ask the case manager about nursing hours and about paying a parent once the child is approved.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Register on Health-e-Arizona Plus or call 888-621-6880, then send the DE-101 and DE-202 combination form. Email altcsregistration@azahcccs.gov.

What to gather

  • Your child’s date of birth and Social Security number
  • Any income or savings in your child’s own name
  • The oncology team’s written description of daily care
  • Medical records showing the treatment plan

How long: AHCCCS describes roughly 45 days for an ALTCS application. Eligibility, approval of care hours and available staff are separate; the office and plan confirm current timing and any discharge priority.

What a yes looks like

A notice with coverage dates and a named case manager who contacts you about hours at home.

What a no looks like, and the next move

A no is usually about the level of care, not money. Ask for the reason in writing, get the oncology team to add detail, and appeal by the date on the notice.

Watch out

  • The money test is easy and the level-of-care test is hard; get the daily care written down first.
  • If the family turns down home and community services, the parents’ income comes back into the sum.
  • The developmental disabilities route is a different queue and leukaemia is not on its diagnosis list; ask for the ordinary long-term care route.

Dates that change this

2026-09-11: Eligibility, approval of care hours and finding available staff are separate steps. The ALTCS office and plan confirm current waiting times and any discharge priority for the child. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

2026-09-11: An AHCCCS eligibility specialist can identify whether a separate TEFRA/Katie Beckett, Family Opportunity Act or spend-down category exists and fits the child. ALTCS is not proof that every other route is unavailable. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

2026-12-01: A new home-care needs tool and extraordinary-care review for ALTCS members under 18 are scheduled for December 1, 2026. They concern service hours, not the separate ALTCS eligibility test. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Full state coverage plus home services, with only the child’s own income counted: $2,982 a month and $2,000 in the child’s own savings for 2026.

  • $2,982/month — The child’s own income limit
  • $2,000 — The child’s own countable savings limit

Covers: Everything the ordinary children’s coverage gives · Nursing, attendant care, personal care and homemaker hours at home · In-home habilitation · The option of paying a parent for up to 40 hours a week of care · A case manager who arranges the hours with you

Legal protection: The parents’ income and savings stay out of the sum while the child lives somewhere long-term-care services can be given

What it costs the family: The eligibility specialist confirms any cost sharing for the child’s ALTCS category. Freedom to Work premiums are suspended until further notice as of September 16, 2026.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
unmarried child under 18 for the child-only budget group; the programme itself is not age limited
Income
the child’s own gross monthly income at or under $2,982 (2026)
Resources
the child’s own countable resources at or under $2,000
Level of care
immediate risk of nursing-facility or ICF/IID level of care; the child does not have to live in a facility
Budget group caveat
if the family refuses home and community services, or the setting does not qualify, the parents come back into the budget group (manual revised July 2020; no newer revision found)
Statute
Section 1115 demonstration 11-W-00275/9, approved through September 30, 2027

Decisions this site cannot make: Financial review, then a medical interview by a registered nurse or social worker

Expect friction on: The medical test is a nursing-home level of care, and leukaemia on its own does not settle it · The ALTCS office and plan must confirm current waiting times, staffing and any discharge priority.

The trap: The money test is easy and the medical test is not. The child’s own income limit is $2,982 a month and the child’s own savings limit is $2,000 for 2026, which almost every child passes. What decides it is the nurse or social worker’s judgement about the level of care. Ask the oncology team to write down the daily care in plain detail before the interview.

Where I read this

← Back to your options