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

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Hawaii program

Medicaid through a disability or home-care route

Med-QUEST can review disability-based coverage and home-care routes when ordinary child coverage does not fit.

What it is

Med-QUEST can review disability-based coverage and home-care routes when ordinary child coverage does not fit.

Hawaii’s QUEST waiver has home-care eligibility groups for people who meet disability and institutional-care rules. These routes are not limited to developmental disabilities. Med-QUEST checks the actual category, finances and care needs; a cancer diagnosis alone does not decide eligibility.

Eligibility rules
  • Hawaii's Medicaid program has home-care groups for a child whose care needs match a hospital or nursing facility, not only children with developmental disabilities. One group has an income line at the poverty level; another works like spend-down. Med-QUEST decides which fits.
  • Income, resources, any cost share and whether parents’ finances count depend on the named Medicaid category and dates. Med-QUEST confirms the governing rule in writing; a general first-month/second-month financial rule cannot be assumed.
  • The separate IDD waiver requires an intellectual or developmental disability and an intermediate-care-facility level of care. It serves all ages. Its waiver level-of-care form is DHS 1150C; DHS 1150 is for facility care.
What you get
  • A review of disability-based coverage and help at home through the appropriate Med-QUEST route.
  • A separate developmental-disability waiver review when your child meets its clinical rules.
What the help covers
  • The developmental-disability waiver has a waiting list; the island intake office can say how long.
  • The aged, blind or disabled medically needy route has different financial rules from the ordinary child spend-down route, including no corresponding 300%-of-poverty entry ceiling. A qualifying disability and the actual spend-down calculation still need review.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital social worker to help Med-QUEST identify which disability or home-care route could fit.
  2. Ask how that route treats parents’ income, savings and any family payment, and what care assessment is needed.
  3. If your child also has a developmental disability, ask the island intake office about the separate IDD review.

Med-QUEST: 1-800-316-8005. Developmental Disabilities Division island contacts appear in the details. · Official page ↗

What happens next
  • Once the developmental-disability office has your records it decides within about 30 working days whether your child qualifies; a place and a nurse are separate steps.
  • Your social worker can help coordinate the separate DDD, Med-QUEST and level-of-care reviews. The island office confirms current openings and waiting time rather than promising a service-start date from the 30-day target.
Good to know

Home nursing for a child already on Med-QUEST and eligibility for a new coverage category are different questions. The care team can help coordinate both.

Other details
  • Ordinary child coverage, uninsured-child S-CHIP, ABD spend-down, QUEST institutional-rule home care and the IDD waiver are distinct routes. A refusal under one does not settle the others.
  • DDD intake: Oahu 808-733-1689; Maui/Lanai 808-243-4625; Molokai 808-553-7898; Kauai 808-241-3406; Hilo 808-974-4280; Kona 808-327-6212; Waimea 808-887-6064.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Is there a disability route that would cover our child without counting our income? What limits would it bring, and could you help us request the right review?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand all the coverage routes without assuming that cancer meets a developmental-disability test.

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

Ask Med-QUEST the question in writing so the answer is on the file, and call the division only if the child also has a developmental disability.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker helps coordinate clinical records, Med-QUEST category review and DDD intake when the IDD route is relevant.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
Med-QUEST decides the Medicaid category and financial rules. DDD separately decides developmental-disability eligibility for the IDD route.
Ask the agency
“Does Hawaii have any Medicaid category for a disabled child that does not count the parents’ income? If not, please screen us for the S-CHIP band and for spend-down.”

How to apply

First step: Ask Med-QUEST on 1-800-316-8005, in writing, whether any disability category leaves the parents’ income out.

  1. Ask Med-QUEST in writing whether Hawaii has any category that leaves the parents’ income out for a child with leukaemia.
  2. Call the Developmental Disabilities Division on 808-733-1689 only if the child also has an intellectual or developmental disability.
  3. Otherwise ask about the S-CHIP band and the spend-down in the same conversation.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Call the Oahu intake line on 808-733-1689. A case manager helps complete the request to participate form.

What to gather

  • The child’s diagnosis letter
  • any other diagnosis the child carries
  • this month’s household income

How long: DDD’s 30-working-day target follows complete records and covers disability eligibility, not Medicaid approval, waiver admission or staffing. DDD confirms current openings and individual waiting time.

What a yes looks like

A written category name, and a case manager who completes the request to participate form with you.

What a no looks like, and the next move

A written no. Take it straight to the spend-down question and to the hospital financial counsellor.

Watch out

  • The IDD waiver requires a developmental disability; the QUEST institutional-rule home-care routes are not limited to that group.
  • Med-QUEST confirms category-specific parental income, resources and any cost share; a generic first-month financial rule cannot be assumed.
  • A refusal under one route does not decide ordinary child coverage, S-CHIP, ABD spend-down or another institutional-care category.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

Separate Med-QUEST disability and institutional-level home-care reviews; the IDD waiver additionally has its own developmental-disability and care-level criteria.

  • $2,998/year — IDD waiver total first-year unduplicated capacity from July 2026, not new openings
  • $30 — DDD disability-eligibility decision target after complete records, not waiver admission

Covers: Home and community services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities · Case management through the Developmental Disabilities Division

Legal protection: Applications are expedited for anyone needing crisis-level services to avoid an institution

What it costs the family: Any premium or cost share depends on the actual Medicaid category. Med-QUEST confirms child-specific income, resources and parental-finance rules rather than applying a general first-month rule.

The eligibility facts, as published

Condition
QUEST disability/institutional-level home-care categories and ABD medically needy coverage have their own tests. The separate IDD waiver requires intellectual/developmental disability and intermediate-care-facility level of care.
Age
The IDD waiver serves all ages; Med-QUEST confirms the age rule for each other eligibility category.
Level of care form
DHS 1150C for the waiver (DHS 1150 is the facility form)
Financial
Med-QUEST identifies the applicable income, resources, parental-deeming and cost-share rules for the named category and dates. No universal family-asset gate or first-month/second-month rule is established.
Waiting list
unknown; no dated count was published
Katie beckett
NOT FOUND either way; the state plan attachment that would settle it could not be retrieved

The trap: Parents’ income, resources and any cost share depend on the named Medicaid eligibility category and dates. Med-QUEST must identify the governing rule; a general first-month/second-month or family-asset gate cannot be assumed.

Where I read this

← Back to your options