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

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Georgia program

Nursing and personal care at home (Georgia Pediatric Program)

Medicaid can pay an agency for nursing or personal care at home. A qualified parent can provide paid personal care.

What it is

Medicaid can pay an agency for nursing or personal care at home. A qualified parent can provide paid personal care.

Home care depends on what your child needs between appointments. The agency documents nursing or personal-care tasks and requests Medicaid approval. A cancer diagnosis does not set the hours.

Eligibility rules
  • The child must be under 21 and have Medicaid. The agency checks medical necessity and the current program’s care-level criteria. Katie Beckett is one possible Medicaid eligibility route.
  • A parent who wants to be paid must train and be hired as a care worker through the agency.
What you get
  • Approved nursing or personal-care hours at no cost to the family.
  • Paid personal-care hours for a parent who meets the agency and state qualifications.
What the help includes
  • Doctor’s orders should name skilled tasks such as line care, IV nutrition or tube feeding, or personal care beyond usual needs for the child’s age.
  • Parent payment covers approved personal-care services through the employing agency. It is not a general wage for being at the hospital.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the discharge planner or oncology social worker for a Georgia Pediatric Program agency referral.
  2. Have ready: the Medicaid number, doctor’s orders, equipment and medication lists, and a daily task log.
  3. Ask the agency to explain requested hours, staffing and the family-caregiver option.

Georgia Medicaid general member assistance: 877-423-4746; your discharge planner or GAPP agency · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The written decision names service types and hours. A family-caregiver arrangement also needs the caregiver, training, wage and schedule in writing.
  • A denial or reduction can be appealed by the notice deadline. The clinician can address tasks missing from the original order.
  • Ask the agency to record the authorization request date, whether urgent review is needed, and which Medicaid appeal notice will apply. A decision deadline is not a promise that a nurse or aide is available to start on that date. A reduction of existing care has separate appeal and continued-service rules; the social worker can help identify the right route before care changes.
Good to know

Medicaid must be approved before GAPP services can be approved. An approved schedule and finding staff are separate steps.

Other details
  • GAMMIS lists the current GAPP provider manual. The discharge planner or Medicaid office can help identify its current enrolled-agency directory and confirm an agency’s service area.
  • Georgia Medicaid’s general member line, 877-423-4746, can help locate the GAPP referral route. The discharge planner can check which enrolled agencies serve your area and have staff. A directory listing does not promise an opening.
  • Medicaid Home Health and the under-21 EPSDT review are additional service questions. The care team can check medically necessary services within covered federal benefit categories. A GAPP decision does not by itself decide every home-service option or developmental-disability waiver.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could nursing or personal care at home help with our child’s tasks, and could a qualified parent provide some of it? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and would you help us request an assessment if appropriate?”

Why I’m asking: I want a realistic care plan at home, including any help our family could receive.

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

Describe the actual daily tasks, accept only a written service and pay arrangement, keep the log.

Your social worker

The social worker finds a Medicaid-enrolled GAPP home care agency, sends the referral and the physician orders, and coordinates discharge.

The care team

The doctor writes orders naming each skilled task, how often it is needed and the safety risk without it.

Who decides
Georgia Medicaid's prior-approval review, on the agency's submission
Ask your social worker
“Which GAPP agency can assess our child, and does Medicaid need to start first? Can we get any parent-pay agreement in writing?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the discharge planner or oncology social worker for a Georgia Pediatric Program home-care agency referral. The provider list is Appendix U of the program manual on Georgia's Medicaid provider website (GAMMIS). The agency requests approval. DCH's GAPP page is dch.georgia.gov/programs/hcbs/community-based-services; its 2017 fact sheet lists 404-657-7882 (not re-verified).

  1. Ask the discharge planner for a GAPP agency referral.
  2. Have the physician write orders naming each skilled and personal-care task and how often.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Contact a GAPP provider agency directly (Appendix U of the GAPP manual on GAMMIS)

What to gather

  • Medicaid number
  • Physician orders naming each skilled and personal-care task and how often
  • Medication and equipment list
  • A daily task log

How long: No published approval standard in what we read (the July 2026 manual was not retrievable). Ask the agency its usual turnaround and staffing wait.

What a yes looks like

A written approval with service type and hours, and an agency schedule. If a parent will be paid, get the caregiver, hours, training and wage in writing first.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask for the written medical reason for denied or reduced hours. Neither the doctor's order nor the state review is beyond appeal. Appeal by the notice date, and ask the clinician whether the order describes every task.

Watch out

  • Nothing can be approved while a Medicaid application is pending: for an over-income family, Katie Beckett comes first, then GAPP home care.
  • Leukemia alone produces no hours. The physician's order has to name skilled tasks (line care, nutrition through a vein (TPN), tube feeds) or personal care beyond the child's age. DFCS manual still carries an 'oxygen or ventilator dependent' sentence for nursing. Ask the agency how it is applied.
  • Approval and finding a staffed nurse are two different waits. A parent is paid only through the agency, only for approved personal-care hours, and only after meeting direct-care-worker qualifications; the state says over 1,000 family members have been paid this way.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 8, 2026.

What it is worth

Authorized hours of in-home nursing or personal care through a GAPP agency. A qualified parent can be paid for personal-care hours.

Covers: Skilled nursing hours · Personal-care hours · Family Caregiver Option (personal care by a qualified parent, through the agency)

What it costs the family: None. A Medicaid service delivered through an agency.

The eligibility facts, as published

Medicaid
required under any class of assistance (Katie Beckett if over-income)
Age max exclusive
21
Need
medically necessary nursing and/or personal care
Level of care
nursing-facility
Prior authorization
yes
Family caregiver option
a legally responsible individual (a parent) paid for personal care services after meeting all direct-care-worker qualifications and the hiring agency's and DCH's oversight; medical necessity and the standing prior-authorization review apply (CMS special terms and conditions, STC 30, amendment approved 2024-11-15)
Manual status
the current GAPP In-Home Nursing manual is dated 07/01/2026 on the GAMMIS catalog but could not be retrieved (2026-09-08); its prior-authorization timeframe, medically-fragile definition, hours caps and caregiver training text are unknown

Decisions this site cannot make: Medical necessity and hours (prior approval) · Agency and caregiver qualifications

Expect friction on: Agency referral and physician orders · Staffing wait after approval · Electronic visit verification

The trap: Nothing can be approved while a Medicaid application is pending: for an over-income family, Katie Beckett comes first, then GAPP home care.

Where I read this

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