ALTCS Plans
What is an ALTCS Program Contractor?
People applying for the Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) often have questions about which of the ALTCS plan providers they should go with. These are also called program contractors. The ALTCS benefit is paid by the state and federal government, but is managed by three different benefit managers, United Healthcare, Banner University, and Mercy Care. We often get questions about which plan is best.
Rest assured, the ALTCS benefit works the same way on all three ALTCS plans. The primary thing that you should be concerned about is the network. Similar to finding a doctor in your insurance network, you have to find a home in the ALTCS program contractor’s network.
Choosing a Provider
If you are looking to move into a group home to use your ALTCS benefit to pay the cost of care, you will have to find out which provider the home contracts with. This is the same for assisted living facilities. The home or facility may be registered with one, two, all, or none of the providers.
Once you find an ALTCS contracted community, you need to make sure you choose the same ALTCS plan that is accepted by the home you wish to receive care from. Some of the plans also have geographic restrictions that you should be aware of. Ultimately though, your primary concern should be that you are on the ALTCS plan that covers all the services at the home of your choice.
Finding an ALTCS Approved Care Community
If your prospective care facility is not contracted with any of the ALTCS providers, then you will have to choose somewhere else. There is a small window of time from date of approval to the date the benefit must start, so it pays off to plan ahead. Senior Planning can help you find an ALTCS approved community, which is a completely free service since the communities pay a commission. Many communities do not state whether or not they take ALTCS on their websites, so it can be extremely beneficial to take advantage of Senior Planning’s free placement service.
We generally recommend that people should find the home first, check which provider they use, and then apply to ALTCS. This way, you have a much wider selection when initially choosing your care community. Matching the provider to the assisted living means you are not limited by the provider you have chosen.
Can Senior Planning help me apply to ALTCS?
Choosing a program contractor is just one of the many steps in the ALTCS application process. As you can imagine, the rest of the application is no easier. However, if you would like assistance with your ALTCS application, you’ve come to the right place. Senior Planning offers an application service at a far lower cost than an elder law attorney. People are shocked to hear our pricing vs. what they were quoted at leading local elderlaw firms. Give us a call today for a completely free consultation and I bet you’ll be glad you did.
