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

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Kansas program

Home care waiver for a child on equipment (Technology Assisted)

Nursing and support at home for a medically fragile child who would otherwise need hospital-level care.

What it is

Nursing and support at home for a medically fragile child who would otherwise need hospital-level care.

This waiver can help a child come home with equipment and intensive care. The state assesses whether hospital-level care is needed. A place and the financial rules need checking before a discharge plan relies on it.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must live in Kansas and meet the hospital-level care test.
  • The assessment checks medical fragility, technology dependence and nursing-care needs against the waiver’s hospital-level-of-care criteria. Equipment use, hands-on care or a cancer diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility.
  • The waiver serves children and young adults through age 21, then hands over to adult services.
  • Only your child’s own income and savings count, not yours. The Clearinghouse tells you whether any monthly share is due.
What you get
  • Nursing and support at home through the Technology Assisted waiver.
  • Help arranging care outside the hospital when the assessment supports it.
What the help includes
  • The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services assesses the level of care. The KanCare plan arranges approved services.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask your hospital discharge planner or KanCare care manager for a Technology Assisted waiver referral.
  2. Have the equipment list, discharge plan and doctor’s description of nursing needs ready.
  3. Ask for the assessment result and any waiting-list position in writing.

Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, with the KanCare health plan · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • Your discharge planner can use the written assessment and service decision when planning care at home.
  • A clinical assessment does not guarantee a waiver place. KDADS confirms the current enrollment limit, any waiting list, the order of offers and any hospital-discharge priority or reserved place. Your discharge planner needs the actual enrollment and service decision before relying on waiver support.
Good to know

Needing help at home is not the same as needing hospital-level care. Ordinary KanCare nursing can be a separate conversation.

Other details
  • The physical-disability waiver starts at age 16. The brain-injury waiver requires a brain injury; neither is a general childhood-cancer route.

Federal background: Services at home through a waiver.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Would our child’s care needs fit the Technology Assisted waiver? What support and drawbacks should we expect, and could you help arrange an assessment if it is worth pursuing?”

Why I’m asking: I want a safe care plan at home and a realistic picture of the support available.

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 for the assessment early, and ask for the waiting-list position in writing.

Your social worker

The discharge planner makes the referral and sends the clinical detail.

The care team

The doctor documents the equipment and the nursing the child needs at home.

Who decides
Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services decides the level of care; the KanCare plan arranges services.
Ask your social worker
“Our child is coming home on equipment. Can we be referred for a Technology Assisted waiver assessment, and can we have the waiting-list position in writing?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the discharge planner for a Technology Assisted waiver assessment before your child goes home.

  1. Ask the discharge planner to refer for a Technology Assisted waiver assessment before the child goes home.
  2. Ask the Clearinghouse about the child’s financial test and KDADS about enrollment, waiting-list rules and any discharge priority.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask the hospital discharge planner or the KanCare plan care manager for a waiver assessment referral.

What to gather

  • The discharge plan and equipment list
  • The doctor’s description of the nursing needed at home

How long: KDADS confirms assessment timing, enrollment availability and service arrangements.

What a yes looks like

A written enrollment and service decision; the nursing agency separately confirms actual staffing.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask whether the answer was the level of care or a place on the waiting list, and ask for it in writing either way.

Watch out

  • A leukaemia diagnosis is not the test. Hospital-level care at home is.
  • The Physical Disability waiver begins at age 16 and has its own criteria. The Brain Injury waiver requires a qualifying brain injury. A leukemia diagnosis alone establishes neither route.
  • Assessment does not guarantee enrollment. KDADS confirms available places, any waiting list and whether discharge priority applies.

Dates that change this

2026-09-10: KDADS confirms current capacity, waiting-list order and any hospital-discharge priority. The waiver can disregard parental finances, but the Clearinghouse must confirm the current child-income test, age-specific resources and any client obligation.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

The waiver can use the child’s finances without parental income or resources. The Clearinghouse confirms the child’s current financial test and any client obligation; KDADS separately confirms a place and approved services.

Covers: Home and community-based services for eligible medically fragile, technology-dependent people ages 0 through 21 who meet the hospital-level-care assessment.

What it costs the family: The Clearinghouse confirms any client obligation under the current waiver financial rules.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
Ages 0 through 21 inclusive; transition at 22. EPSDT under-21 rule is separate.
Level of care
Assessment checks medical fragility, technology dependence and nursing needs against hospital-level-care criteria; diagnosis or equipment alone does not qualify.
Income
The waiver can use the child’s finances without parental income/resources; Clearinghouse confirms current child income, age-specific resource rules and any client obligation.
Residency
Kansas

The trap: The Physical Disability waiver begins at age 16 and has its own criteria. The Brain Injury waiver requires a qualifying brain injury. A leukemia diagnosis alone establishes neither route.

Where I read this

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