NOW/COMP Waiver Georgia: What It Funds, Who Qualifies, and Why You Apply Early

Two waivers, one slash between them, and a name that explains nothing. That is how most Georgia parents first meet the NOW/COMP waiver: a phrase on an intake form, or a sentence from a case manager who was already halfway out the door.

Here is the plain version. The NOW/COMP waiver Georgia families apply for is a pair of Medicaid home and community-based services programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism. NOW stands for New Options Waiver. COMP stands for Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program. Both are funded through Medicaid and run day to day by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, or DBHDD. Neither one pays for your child's ABA therapy. That work runs through a separate benefit, alongside the ABA therapy in Georgia your child may already be receiving. Both waivers are still worth applying to, and the reason is timing.

What the NOW/COMP Waiver Georgia Program Funds, and Who Qualifies

These waivers pay for long-term support, not medical treatment. Think personal support in the home, community access, respite for caregivers, supported employment, behavioral supports, and residential care. More than 12,000 Georgians currently receive services through the two programs.

They exist because of a federal rule. Section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act lets states waive the usual requirement that Medicaid long-term care be delivered in an institution. Georgia uses that flexibility across several waiver programs, funding support in family homes and community settings instead.

NOW vs. COMP: The Short Version

• NOW (New Options Waiver) supports people who live with family or independently and need daily help, but not around-the-clock care.
• COMP (Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program) serves people with more intensive needs and primarily funds residential care, including host homes and small group living arrangements.

You do not pick one. DBHDD determines which waiver fits based on assessed need, and a person can move between them as circumstances change.

The Three Eligibility Conditions

Georgia publishes three eligibility requirements, and all three have to be met.

A qualifying diagnosis. An intellectual disability, or a closely related developmental disability such as autism, cerebral palsy, or epilepsy, that substantially impairs intellectual or adaptive functioning.

Onset during the developmental years. By age 18 for an intellectual disability, or by age 22 for a developmental disability.

Institutional level of care. The person must need the level of care an intermediate care facility provides.

Separately, the person has to be Medicaid eligible. DBHDD is clear that it does not make Medicaid eligibility determinations, which sit with the Department of Community Health. Two agencies, two determinations, and families routinely assume one covers the other. It does not.

How NOW/COMP Fits Among Georgia Medicaid Waiver Programs

Georgia Medicaid waiver programs are not interchangeable, and this is where parents of autistic children lose the most time.

For ABA therapy right now: Georgia has covered autism spectrum disorder services for Medicaid members under age 21 since January 1, 2018. Adaptive Behavior Services require a documented DSM-5 autism diagnosis from a licensed professional and are authorized on medical necessity. That is the benefit funding your child's therapy today, and our breakdown of Georgia Medicaid coverage for ABA therapy walks through the authorization details.

For Medicaid access when family income is too high: The Katie Beckett pathway, known in Georgia as the Deeming Waiver, disregards parental income for children who meet an institutional level of care and live at home. Coverage runs through the month the child turns 19.

For adult long-term support: NOW and COMP.

DBHDD states this boundary directly. The waivers are a payor of last resort and cannot fund services that should come from the education system, the Georgia Pediatric Program, the Department of Family and Children Services, or the Autism State Benefit Plan. A family that applies for NOW/COMP hoping it will cover 20 hours a week of ABA has applied to the wrong program.

The Medicaid Waiver Georgia Application, Step by Step

The Medicaid waiver Georgia application for NOW/COMP runs through DBHDD, and the sequence is fixed.

1. Apply online. Use the IDD Connects portal through the Georgia Collaborative ASO. Paper applications must be transcribed manually, which delays processing.
2. Intake review. Regional Field Office staff check the file for completeness. Georgia's published response time is a screening assessment scheduled within 14 business days of a complete application. Starting an application is not the same as submitting one.
3. Pre-eligibility review. A DBHDD psychologist reviews the file and may request a face-to-face interview. A finding of ineligibility carries appeal rights.
4. Planning List placement. Pre-eligible individuals go onto the I/DD Planning List.
5. Final determination. When a slot opens, Alliant-Georgia Medical Care Foundation makes the final eligibility determination, as required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
6. Service plan. A Regional Planning List Administrator builds an Individual Service Plan, and services begin.

DBHDD confirms there is no age restriction on when a person can apply. That single fact reframes the whole exercise: there is no strategic reason to wait. One detail costs families their place, though. DBHDD sends annual follow-up notices to everyone on the Planning List, and missing one can get a file archived. Update your address every time you move. For families still untangling which coverage applies to which service, our guide to ABA therapy coverage in Georgia covers the overlap.

About That NOW/COMP Waiver Waiting List

The NOW/COMP waiver waiting list is long, and honesty serves families better than optimism.

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities reports 4,505 people enrolled in NOW and 9,789 in COMP, with 7,891 still on the DBHDD waiting list. For the 2026 budget, DBHDD's own workgroup identified 1,217 people in urgent need. The state funded 100.

Two things follow from that math.

Prioritization is not chronological. For the NOW/COMP waiver Georgia maintains, DBHDD prioritizes on unmet need using an objective assessment tool weighing two areas: health and safety, and the caregiver and support system. Time on the list is not the deciding factor. A family whose primary caregiver is aging or ill may move ahead of a family that applied a decade earlier.

Document changes as they happen. Because prioritization tracks need, report a change in circumstances to your Regional Field Office immediately. A caregiver's health decline, a hospitalization, a housing loss, an escalation in support needs. Waiting for the annual notice wastes months.

Coverage questions rarely stay in one lane, and Georgia's autism insurance laws often determine what private insurance handles while the waiver question sits unresolved.

What This Looks Like for an Actual Family

Consider a composite of families our clinical team sees regularly across metro Atlanta.

A mother has a 9-year-old autistic son with significant support needs. His ABA is authorized through Georgia Medicaid's autism benefit. His school provides speech and occupational therapy under his IEP. On paper, he is covered.

A neighbor mentions the waiver. The mother assumes it will add therapy hours, applies expecting a quick answer, and hears little for months. When the pre-eligibility letter arrives, she reads "Planning List" as a rejection and stops responding to notices.

Here is what a better sequence looks like. She applies at age 9 understanding that NOW/COMP funds adult supports, not more ABA. Pre-eligibility gets confirmed and the clock starts. She keeps her contact information current and answers every annual notice. When her son turns 16, transition planning references the existing Planning List placement instead of starting from zero. When his support needs escalate at 17, she documents it with her Regional Field Office and his priority score moves.

Same family, same diagnosis, ten years of difference in outcome. The variable was understanding what the program does. Meanwhile, in-home ABA therapy and school-based support carry the load, which is the appropriate service for a child under 21 and not a placeholder for anything.

What the Research Says About Waivers and Families

The evidence on HCBS waivers is stronger than most families realize.

Douglas Leslie and colleagues, publishing in Medical Care in 2017, examined Medicaid HCBS waivers across states and found them associated with reduced unmet needs among children with autism spectrum disorder. More generous waivers showed the strongest effect.

Karen Goldrich Eskow of Towson University, with Gregory Chasson and Jean Ann Summers of the University of Kansas, used propensity score matching to compare 130 families receiving autism waiver services against 130 matched families still on a registry. The waiver group reported greater improvement in independent living skills and in family quality of life over the prior year. A 2021 scoping review in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities reached similar conclusions across the wider literature, finding waivers linked to reduced unmet healthcare needs and improved parental employment.

Worth stating plainly: these studies examine waiver programs generally, not Georgia's NOW/COMP specifically, and matched-cohort designs show association rather than proven causation. The direction of the evidence is consistent, though. Access to long-term support changes outcomes for the whole household, not only the person receiving services.

That is the honest case for applying to a program with a decade-long queue. The application costs you an afternoon. The placement is an asset that compounds. Families weighing where to settle in the state may also find our look at autism services by city useful, since regional office and provider density vary widely.

Three assumptions about the NOW/COMP waiver Georgia offers are worth dropping before you file. The waiver will not pay for your child's ABA; the under-21 autism benefit does. There is no advantage to waiting until your child is older, because pre-eligibility takes months to establish and costs nothing to hold. And Planning List placement confirms clinical pre-eligibility without signaling a timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the NOW/COMP waiver in Georgia?

The NOW/COMP waiver Georgia families apply for is a pair of Medicaid home and community-based services programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism. NOW covers lower-intensity daily supports; COMP covers more intensive needs, including residential care.

Who qualifies for NOW/COMP waiver?

A person needs an intellectual disability or closely related developmental disability such as autism, with onset by age 18 for intellectual disability or age 22 for developmental disability, plus an institutional level of care need. They must also be Medicaid eligible.

What is the difference between NOW and COMP waiver?

NOW supports people living with family or independently who need daily but not around-the-clock help. COMP serves people with more intensive needs and primarily funds residential care.

How do I apply for the NOW/COMP waiver in GA?

Apply through the IDD Connects portal via the Georgia Collaborative ASO, or submit a paper application to your DBHDD Regional Field Office. Online submissions process faster because paper applications must be transcribed manually.

How long is the NOW/COMP waiver waiting list?

Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities reporting put 7,891 people on the DBHDD waiting list, with 100 new waivers funded in the 2026 budget. DBHDD prioritizes by unmet need rather than time waited, so no fixed timeline applies.

Does the NOW/COMP waiver cover ABA therapy?

No. DBHDD states the waivers cannot fund services that should come through the Autism State Benefit Plan or the education system. ABA for children under 21 runs through Georgia Medicaid's autism benefit.

Sources:

• https://georgia.gov/now-and-comp
• https://georgia.gov/apply-new-option-waiver-program-now-and-comprehensive-support-waiver-program-comp
• https://dbhdd.georgia.gov/be-dbhdd/be-compassionate/how-do-i-apply-dd-services
• https://dbhdd.georgia.gov/be-connected/dd-provider-faqs
• https://dbhdd.georgia.gov/organization/be-informed/reports-performance/dd-planning-lists
• https://medicaid.georgia.gov/programs/all-programs/waiver-programs
• https://medicaid.georgia.gov/programs/all-programs/autism-spectrum-disorder
• https://medicaid.georgia.gov/programs/all-programs/tefrakatie-beckett