Arizona’s Long Term Care System (ALTCS) pays for nursing facility care, in-home support services, medical care, prescriptions, behavioral health treatment, medical equipment, and more. It is Arizona’s Medicaid program for people who need ongoing long-term care, and it covers a wide range of services designed to keep members either safely at home or in a facility that meets their needs.
Nursing Facility and Residential Care
ALTCS covers the full cost of nursing facility care, including room and board, for members who need continuous skilled care but don’t require hospitalization or daily physician oversight. This is one of the program’s largest benefits and the reason many families first learn about ALTCS.
Beyond traditional nursing homes, ALTCS also pays for assisted living facilities and hospice care. These options give members and families flexibility depending on the level of support needed. The goal is matching the care setting to the person’s actual condition rather than defaulting to the most intensive (and expensive) option.
Home and Community-Based Services
A large portion of ALTCS spending goes toward keeping people in their own homes or with family. These home and community-based services (HCBS) cover help with daily activities like eating, bathing, dressing, grooming, using the bathroom, and getting around.
Specific services ALTCS pays for at home include:
- Attendant care: a caregiver who helps with personal tasks and daily routines
- Home health services: nursing visits, home health aides, and therapy
- Housekeeping: help maintaining a safe, clean living environment
- Home-delivered meals
- Adult day care and adult day health care
- Respite care: temporary relief for family caregivers
- Case management: coordination of all your services and providers
To qualify for these services, you generally need to be 60 or older, or between 18 and 60 with a disability, and unable to independently perform basic activities of daily living.
Standard Medical Services
ALTCS members receive the same medical benefits available to all AHCCCS (Arizona Medicaid) members. That includes doctor’s visits, hospital stays, surgery, lab work and X-rays, specialist care, emergency care, physical exams, pregnancy care, dialysis, and family planning services. Podiatry and chiropractic services are also covered.
Children under 21 get additional benefits through the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program, which adds vision exams, glasses, dental screening and treatment, hearing exams, and hearing aids.
Prescription Drug Coverage
ALTCS covers prescription medications, but with an important caveat: if you also have Medicare, your prescriptions are generally handled through Medicare Part D, not ALTCS. For members with both ALTCS and Medicare (called “dual-eligible” members), ALTCS still picks up certain costs that Medicare doesn’t. These include over-the-counter medications not covered by Part D, drugs that Medicare specifically excludes but that are medically necessary, and cost-sharing for behavioral health medications for people with a serious mental illness designation.
Medical Equipment and Supplies
ALTCS pays for medically necessary equipment, devices, and supplies when a physician orders them as part of your care plan. Covered items include wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, and augmentative communication devices. Consumable supplies like surgical dressings, splints, and casts are also covered.
One benefit that matters greatly for many ALTCS members is incontinence briefs, including pull-ups and pads. These are covered when incontinence is caused by a documented medical condition and a physician writes a prescription. The standard allowance is up to 180 briefs per month in any combination, though a doctor can request more if there’s documented medical necessity.
Timing for equipment delivery follows set guidelines. Urgent needs and equipment required at hospital discharge must arrive within 24 hours. Routine items like standard wheelchairs or supplies are delivered within 10 days of approval. Custom equipment, such as a specially fitted wheelchair or hospital bed, can take up to 90 days.
Dental Benefits for Adults
ALTCS members aged 21 and older get two separate dental benefit pools, totaling up to $2,000 per contract year (which runs October 1 through September 30). The first $1,000 covers diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive dental care. The second $1,000 covers emergency dental services and extractions. You can’t carry unused benefits from one year to the next.
Emergency dental visits don’t require prior authorization. If your dental work exceeds the $1,000 limit in either category, a provider can bill you for the difference, but only if they notify you in advance and you agree in writing before the service is performed.
Behavioral Health Services
ALTCS covers a broad range of mental health and substance abuse services. These include individual and group counseling, psychiatric assessment, specialized testing, and substance abuse treatment. Crisis services are available through mobile teams, phone crisis lines, and urgent care.
The program also pays for behavioral health day programs (supervised, therapeutic, and medical), inpatient psychiatric care in hospitals or residential treatment facilities, and 24-hour residential behavioral health services for people who need a structured living environment. Rehabilitation services go beyond clinical treatment to include life skills training, cognitive rehabilitation, supported employment, and education support. Support services round things out with case management, respite care, housing support, interpreter services, and help accessing community resources and benefits.
Transportation to Medical Appointments
ALTCS covers non-emergency medical transportation for members who have no other way to get to appointments. This is a required Medicaid benefit, and it includes rides in taxis, vans, buses, and personal vehicles. If a family member or friend drives you, mileage reimbursement is available. In some parts of Arizona, adults without dependent children pay a $2 copay per one-way taxi trip.
Who Qualifies for ALTCS
ALTCS has both medical and financial eligibility requirements. On the medical side, you must need the level of care typically provided in a nursing facility. On the financial side, the gross monthly income limit for an individual is $2,982 as of January 2026, and countable resources (assets) cannot exceed $2,000 for a single applicant. If you’re married and your spouse isn’t in a medical facility, you may be able to set aside additional resources for their needs through a community spouse allowance. Married applicants should request a Community Spouse Information Sheet from AHCCCS for specifics on how assets are divided.