The Nursing Home Transition and Diversion (NHTD) waiver is a Medicaid 1915(c) home- and community-based services waiver, administered through NYSDOH Regional Resource Development Centers, for Medicaid-eligible people 65+ (or younger with a disability) assessed as needing nursing-home-level care who want to receive services in the community instead. MLTC is a managed-care delivery system; NHTD is a specific waiver program.
The detail behind the program
Families sometimes hear "waiver" and "managed long term care" used almost interchangeably, but they are structured differently. NHTD is specifically designed around transitioning someone out of a nursing home back into the community, or diverting someone from nursing home placement in the first place, with services built around that specific goal.
MLTC, by contrast, is the broader managed-care system New York uses to deliver long-term-care Medicaid benefits generally, including for people who are not specifically transitioning out of a nursing facility. A family exploring options for a Staten Island parent should ask NYSDOH's Regional Resource Development Center or NY Connects (CASC) which pathway actually fits their specific situation, since eligibility criteria and covered services differ.
Related questions
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- Is ACA Medicaid expansion the same thing as long-term care Medicaid for seniors?
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