Delaware Medicaid Long-Term Care

Last updated: August 21, 2026 Jurisdiction: Delaware

Delaware Medicaid long-term care is administered by DMMA

The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance, or DMMA, administers Delaware Medicaid. DMMA’s long-term-care page identifies Medicaid Nursing Facility Care, Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services, 30-day acute-care hospital services, out-of-state rehabilitation-hospital services, the Children’s Community Alternative Disability Program, and SSI-related programs as part of its long-term-care offerings (DMMA Long Term Care Medicaid Programs).

The Nursing Facility Program pays for care in Delaware nursing facilities that contract with Delaware Medicaid. DMMA describes those facilities as providing room, board, and nursing services for people who are elderly, infirm, or disabled, and directs applications to the Medicaid Central Intake Unit (DMMA Nursing Facility Program).

DSHP-Plus is the managed long-term-care route

Diamond State Health Plan Plus, usually called DSHP-Plus, is Delaware’s mandatory managed-care Medicaid program for residents who are elderly or physically disabled. The program includes nursing-facility care and home- and community-based services intended to prevent or delay a nursing-home admission (DMMA DSHP-Plus overview).

The Delaware Social Services Manual lists DSHP-Plus, the Nursing Facility Program, Long Term Care Community Services, PACE, the Developmentally Disabled Waiver, and the Long Term Acute Care Program as long-term-care Medicaid programs. The manual says medical and financial eligibility are common requirements, and that DSHP-Plus-enrolled community-service recipients choose a managed-care organization after eligibility is determined (Delaware Social Services Manual, LTC programs).

Clinical and financial decisions are distinct

For Long Term Care Community Services, the manual assigns financial eligibility to the DMMA Long Term Care Financial Unit and medical eligibility to the DMMA Pre-Admission Screening Unit. The applicant must need nursing-facility level of care under DMMA’s definition; a financial approval alone does not establish the required clinical level of care (Delaware LTC eligibility manual).

DMMA separately says that a Nursing Facility Program applicant must be a Delaware resident, be willing to enter a nursing facility, and accept Medicaid coverage. Its consumer page describes the medical criterion as a need for a skilled or intermediate level of care under Delaware Medicaid criteria (DMMA program requirements).

Delaware starting point: identify the intended setting, obtain the DMMA medical/level-of-care review, and complete the long-term-care financial review. DSHP-Plus does not eliminate the separate eligibility steps (Delaware LTC manual).

For the wider planning framework, see Medicaid (Baseline). Keep the screening, application, income evidence, resources, insurance information, and five years of transfer documentation together when seeking a decision.

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Delaware Medicaid long-term care is administered by DMMA

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