Utah program
Medicaid for a child who depends on medical equipment (Technology Dependent Waiver)
A Medicaid waiver for a child who depends on medical technology and needs frequent skilled care.
What it is
A Medicaid waiver for a child who depends on medical technology and needs frequent skilled care.
This waiver leaves parents’ finances out of its eligibility decision. A central line can be relevant, but it is not automatic entry. The team needs to document the technology and the care it requires.
Eligibility rules
- Admission is before age 21 and requires Utah residency.
- Your child must meet nursing-facility admission criteria, have a trained caregiver available and need skilled nursing or rehabilitation at least five days a week, with qualifying technology dependence.
- One listed technology criterion is dependence on central-line intravenous nutrition or medication for at least six months. Simply having a port does not establish it.
- The financial test uses the child’s own income and assets. Could the waiver office give you the current dollar limits, effective dates and exclusions, including how any child-owned account or trust would count? The family savings estimate above does not establish this test.
What you get
- Medicaid coverage without counting parents’ income or savings.
- Approved skilled nursing and other services at home.
What the help includes
- The approved service plan specifies nursing and other home services.
- Could the waiver office confirm any premium, contribution or other patient liability for this child and which approved services it would cover? Costs outside the approved plan need a separate check.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the waiver office about the Technology Dependent Waiver alongside the complex-needs waiver.
- Ask the oncology team for a note describing the technology, expected duration and days of skilled care.
Utah Medicaid waiver office: 801-538-6155, option 5 · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The waiver office makes a level-of-care decision and develops a service plan for an approved child.
- Utah currently describes funding for about 142 people and a waiting list prioritized by highest confirmed acuity score. Could the office explain the current count, the application and assessment deadlines, your child’s status and how an acuity update affects priority? Approval of eligibility does not guarantee an immediate opening. The undated capacity statement was; about 142 funded places is not a current vacancy count.
Good to know
A qualifying device is only part of the test. Your child must also meet the nursing-facility care criteria.
Other details
- A fuller clinical letter can explain care frequency if the initial request does not show it clearly.
Official sources
“Does the technology our child uses meet this waiver’s test? Could you explain its advantages and limits compared with the other waiver, and help with an application if it fits?”
Why I’m asking: I want to know whether the care we provide at home opens a route to coverage and nursing help.
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 about this waiver by name in the same call as the other one.
Your social worker
The oncology team documents the line, the technology and how often skilled care is needed.
The care team
The clinical detail about the central line and the days of skilled care is what this waiver turns on.
- Who decides
- Utah Medicaid's waiver office decides after an assessment.
- Ask the agency
- “Does my child fit the technology dependent waiver? A central line has been in for months and we need skilled care most days.”
How to apply
First step: Call 801-538-6155 and choose option 5. Ask about this waiver and the medically complex one together.
- Ask the waiver office about this waiver and the medically complex one in the same call.
- Ask the oncology team to record how long the central line is expected to stay and how many days a week skilled care is needed.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Call 801-538-6155 and choose option 5, and ask about both children's waivers in the same call.
What to gather
- A note from the team on the central line and how long it is expected to stay
- How many days a week skilled care is needed
How long: No decision clock is published. Ask for one in writing.
What a yes looks like
A level-of-care decision and a service plan with nursing hours in it.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask which criterion failed. If it is the frequency of skilled care, a fuller letter from the team can change it.
Watch out
- A central line is named as a qualifying criterion, not as automatic entry: the level-of-care test still applies.
- Admission is before 21, so an older teenager should ask early rather than late.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Full Utah Medicaid decided on the child, for a child who depends on medical technology.
Covers: Full Utah Medicaid for the child · Skilled nursing at home · Home and community services under the waiver
Legal protection: Parents' income and resources are disregarded
What it costs the family: Cost-share rules specific to this waiver were not published; ask the waiver office.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Age
- admission before 21
- Income
- the parents' finances are disregarded
- Level of care
- Nursing-facility admission criteria, a trained available caregiver and skilled nursing or rehabilitation at least five days a week with qualifying technology dependence. One criterion is central-line intravenous nutrition or medication dependence for at least six months; a port alone is insufficient.
- Residency
- Utah
- Processing standard
- unknown
Decisions this site cannot make: Nursing-facility level-of-care decision · Technology dependence criteria
Expect friction on: Skilled care at least five days a week is part of the test
The trap: Meeting the central-line criterion is not the same as being eligible. Utah names it as a qualifying technology criterion, and the nursing-facility level-of-care test and the skilled-care frequency still have to be met.
Where I read this
- Technology Dependent Waiver — Utah Department of Health and Human Services, read September 10, 2026
- CMS Utah waiver factsheets — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, read September 10, 2026
- Medicaid Long-Term Care and Waiver Programs — Utah Department of Health and Human Services, read September 10, 2026
- Medicaid policy 503, Household Size and Asset Limits — Utah Department of Health and Human Services, read September 10, 2026