New Hampshire Medicaid Home Care is the set of Medicaid programs that pay for care in a parent’s own home — or in assisted living — for someone who would otherwise qualify for a nursing home. This New Hampshire medicaid home care guide names the program, gives the 2026 financial limits, explains the level-of-care test and the waitlist reality, and shows where the application starts.
The financial figures come from the state Medicaid agency and CMS and reset on their own calendars; where New Hampshire has not published a figure we say so.
In This New Hampshire Medicaid Home Care Guide:
New Hampshire Medicaid Home Care at a Glance (2026)
| Program | New Hampshire’s home-care program for older adults is the Choices for Independence Waiver, almost always called CFI. |
| 2026 income limit (single applicant) | $2,982 |
| 2026 asset limit (single applicant) | $2,500 |
| Assisted living covered? | Confirm with Applications and help start with New Hampshire’s Aging and Disability Resource Centers, still widely known as ServiceLink, which DHHS contracts with as the single point of entry for long-term supports; the statewide toll-free line is 1-866-634-9412 and calls route to the nearest local center. whether assisted living is covered. |
| Waitlist | CFI is not an entitlement. |
| PACE available? | New Hampshire does not currently have a PACE program. |
| Hire your own caregiver? | YES. New Hampshire offers a self-directed option under CFI called Participant Directed and Managed Services, abbreviated PDMS. |
The New Hampshire Program Behind New Hampshire Medicaid Home Care
Nursing home Medicaid is an entitlement: anyone who qualifies gets it. Home-based care is different. New Hampshire delivers it through a waiver or a managed long-term care program with its own name, its own enrollment rules and, in many states, a cap on how many people it serves. The program New Hampshire runs for people 65 and over is New Hampshire’s home-care program for older adults is the Choices for Independence Waiver, almost always called CFI..
CFI pays for the hands-on help that keeps someone at home: personal care, home health aide visits, homemaker help with cleaning and laundry, adult day services, and respite so a family caregiver can rest. It also covers home-delivered meals, environmental accessibility services (ramps, grab bars and similar home modifications), a personal emergency response system, non-medical transportation, skilled nursing, specialized medical equipment, community transition services, supportive housing and supported employment.
Every participant is assigned case management to build and adjust the care plan over time. Room and board in a private home is not a covered service.
Who Qualifies for New Hampshire Medicaid Home Care
Three tests, the same as a nursing home: a medical test, an income test and an asset test. New Hampshire uses the nursing-facility level of care as the medical bar, which means the applicant needs hands-on help with daily activities or supervision because of dementia — not merely help with errands.
The applicant must be found to need nursing facility level of care — meaning a clinical reviewer agrees the person’s needs are serious enough that a nursing home would otherwise be appropriate. DHHS makes that finding through a Medical Eligibility Assessment, usually written MEA, which looks at help needed with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting and eating, plus health and cognitive needs.
State DHHS staff and a contracted clinical assessment agency perform these assessments; for people already receiving facility or home health care, existing MDS or OASIS records may be used.
Financially, the applicant’s own income is measured against the New Hampshire medicaid home care limit of $2,982, and countable assets against $2,500. The spouse who stays home is protected by the same spousal impoverishment rules that apply in a nursing home: up to $162,660 in assets in 2026 and a guaranteed income floor.
Waitlists and Enrollment Caps
CFI is not an entitlement. Unlike nursing home coverage, which New Hampshire must provide to anyone who qualifies, the waiver has a limited number of enrollment slots approved by the federal government, and DHHS says that when those slots are full a waiting list forms. That means a person can meet every medical and financial rule and still wait for an opening.
The state has not published a current, plain-language statement of how long people are waiting in 2026, so actual wait times are UNVERIFIED — ask the local resource center what is happening in your county.
Two facts hold everywhere: applying for the waiver does not stop you from applying for nursing home Medicaid later, and the level-of-care assessment for one is usually accepted for the other.
What New Hampshire Medicaid Home Care Pays For
Personal care (bathing, dressing, transfers), homemaker help, adult day programs, respite so the family caregiver can rest, home modifications such as ramps and grab bars, delivered meals, a personal emergency response button, and in many states assisted living services. It does not pay rent, a mortgage or groceries.
Assisted living: Confirm with Applications and help start with New Hampshire’s Aging and Disability Resource Centers, still widely known as ServiceLink, which DHHS contracts with as the single point of entry for long-term supports; the statewide toll-free line is 1-866-634-9412 and calls route to the nearest local center. whether assisted living is covered.
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PACE: New Hampshire does not currently have a PACE program. There is no PACE organization or PACE center operating anywhere in the state, so a New Hampshire senior cannot enroll in PACE the way a family could in Massachusetts or many other states.
Can a Family Member Be the Paid Caregiver?
YES. New Hampshire offers a self-directed option under CFI called Participant Directed and Managed Services, abbreviated PDMS. Under PDMS the participant (or a chosen representative) recruits, hires, trains, schedules and, if necessary, dismisses their own caregiver instead of taking whoever an agency sends. The state allows participants to hire a friend or relative, such as an adult child, in this role, subject to program rules and background checks.
A Financial Management Services agency, called FMS, handles payroll, tax withholding and paperwork so the family is not running an employer’s back office alone.
The full picture — who may be paid, how the pay is set and how to enroll — is in our companion guide to New Hampshire family caregiver pay.
How to Apply for New Hampshire Medicaid Home Care
Where: Applications and help start with New Hampshire’s Aging and Disability Resource Centers, still widely known as ServiceLink, which DHHS contracts with as the single point of entry for long-term supports; the statewide toll-free line is 1-866-634-9412 and calls route to the nearest local center. — start here.
Ask for two things on the first call: the functional assessment and a Medicaid financial application. Doing both at once shortens the timeline by weeks. Bring the same five years of financial records a nursing home application needs; the look-back rule applies to waivers too.
What Happens on Assessment Day
The assessment is a visit, usually at the parent’s home, by a nurse or social worker who walks through the day: getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, eating, moving from room to room, taking medication, and whether the person can be left alone safely. Answer for the worst day, not the best one. Families who describe a good morning talk their parent out of New Hampshire medicaid home care without meaning to.
Bring the medication list, the diagnoses, recent hospital paperwork and any dementia evaluation. If a doctor has written that the person needs supervision or hands-on help, bring that letter; it is often the single document that tips the level-of-care decision.
The Care Plan That Follows
Approval produces a written care plan: which services, how many hours, and who delivers them. The plan is the budget. Hours outside it are not paid, and hours inside it that go unused are not banked. A plan can be revised when the parent’s condition changes — after a fall, a hospital stay or a new diagnosis — so keep the case manager’s number and call when something changes rather than waiting for the annual review.
Mistakes That Cost Families Months
- Waiting for the crisis. Waiver slots and assessments take weeks; the application should start when the family first notices the parent needs daily help.
- Giving money away first. The five-year look-back applies to the waiver as well as the nursing home, so a gift meant to “get under the limit” creates a penalty period instead.
- Spending the spouse’s protected share. Ask for the resource assessment before paying anything down.
- Assuming Medicare covers it. Medicare pays for short-term skilled care after a hospital stay, never for ongoing daily help. New Hampshire Medicaid Home Care is the program that does.
Where to Get Help Free
Two free doors exist in every state: the New Hampshire SHIP counselor for the Medicare side and the state’s Aging and Disability Resource Center for the Medicaid side. Neither sells anything. For a New Hampshire medicaid home care question involving a house, a spouse at home or a recent gift, a local elder law attorney or legal aid office is the next call.
Key Takeaways: New Hampshire Medicaid Home Care
- Same tests as a nursing home: New Hampshire medicaid home care requires nursing-facility level of care plus the income and asset tests.
- Not an entitlement: New Hampshire medicaid home care runs through a waiver that can have a waitlist, so apply before the crisis.
- The assessment travels: the level-of-care finding for New Hampshire medicaid home care is usually accepted for nursing home coverage later.
- Room and board are never covered: New Hampshire medicaid home care pays for care services, not rent, even in assisted living.
Official Sources
- New Hampshire’s home-care program for older adults is the Choices for Independence Waiver, almost always called CFI.: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/adult-aging-care/home-and-community-based-services-hcbs
- Applications and help start with New Hampshire’s Aging and Disability Resource Centers, still widely known as ServiceLink, which DHHS contracts with as the single point of entry for long-term supports; the statewide toll-free line is 1-866-634-9412 and calls route to the nearest local center.: https://nheasy.nh.gov
- Medicaid.gov spousal impoverishment standards: medicaid.gov
- Medicare.gov Medicare Savings Programs: medicare.gov
This New Hampshire medicaid home care guide was checked against the state Medicaid agency, CMS and the statute cited above in September 2026. Figures reset on their own calendars (most on January 1); if a number here disagrees with a notice you received, the notice wins — and please tell us. This page is general information, not legal, financial or medical advice.