Why are 7,000 people with disabilities in Georgia waiting for care?

Across the South, over half a million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been on waiting lists for years to receive Medicaid waivers for home and community-based services (HCBS). In Georgia, over 7,000 people currently sit on the waiting list for NOW/COMP waivers, and that doesn’t include the many thousands who don’t apply for waivers because they know they’ll be waiting for years. The people on these waiting lists span from children to adults, and it has caused devastating life challenges for most of them. Some adults have been forced to live in institutions and nursing homes as they wait for years to receive the care they need in their own homes, and parents of children on the waiting lists haven’t been able to get jobs because they have to care for their children full time. Additionally, many have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for whatever care they can get as they wait for this life-saving support.

There is a crisis in the care economy in Georgia. A shortage of direct-service professionals (DSPs) is forcing people with disabilities or their families who get HCBS waivers to wait until there are workers available to provide the services they need at home. The current pay rate for DSPs in Georgia is around $10 per hour. This pitifully low, poverty wage leads to recruitment challenges and directly contributes to extremely high turnover rates. This is the primary reason why there are not enough care workers.

Over the years, very few slots have been funded. This year’s proposed budget only funds 100 additional waiver slots but does include a pay raise increase for DSPs.

This is not acceptable.

What is the solution?

In 2022, Senate Resolution 770 (SR 770) formed the bipartisan study committee led by Democratic State Senator Sally Harrell and Republican State Senator John Albers. Over six months, they held a series of public meetings to hear testimony from community members and present findings from experts. On December 14 of that year, the study committee released their final recommendations that included a number of encouraging items. Most importantly, the study committee recommended:

  • Funding 2,400 waiver list slots for FY24, with a goal of eliminating the waiting list in three years

  • Increasing the DSP pay rate to at least $18 per hour based on a recent study


Bipartisan support for these recommendations means that despite the insufficient funding in the governor’s proposed budget, our elected officials in the state legislature can still choose fund these at least 2,400 slots in this year’s budget. We can also give care workers a pay raise to $16.70 per hour, as recommended by the governor in this year’s proposed budget. And Georgia has the money to pay for it all of it. They just need the will to get it done.

How can I help?

By clicking on the email addresses below, the subject and body are pre-populated. All you’ll need to do is hit send, unless you would like to customize it. When calling their offices, you can use this suggested script:

I am calling because I am concerned about the 7,100 people with disabilities waiting for NOW and COMP waivers that would allow them to receive care in their homes and communities instead of institutions. I know that our state has the money to pay for it, so I am urging you to fund 2,400 waivers and keep the pay rate increase for care workers to $16.70 from the governor’s budget recommendations. I want my tax dollars spent to help Georgians with disabilities and the workers who care for them. Please show Georgia that you care about our state’s disability community and include this funding in this year’s budget.

A recent AJC poll found that 48% of Georgians say they’d rather the state’s budget surplus pay for health care and education rather than tax refunds

AJC poll: Budget surplus. A poll on how Georgia should spend it's budget surplus shows that 41% want it spent on tax rebates, 48% want it spent on health care/education, and 8% want both

Contact your state legislators today and tell them you want $65 million of Georgia’s $16 billion budget surplus to fund 2,400 slots on the NOW/COMP waiver waiting list this year, plus a pay raise for care workers: