What Is Georgia's GAPP Program? A Parent's Guide to Free In-Home Nursing

What GAPP actually is

The Georgia Pediatric Program is a Medicaid program that provides medically necessary in-home care for children under the age of 21. Its purpose is simple and humane: to let medically fragile children receive skilled care at home, with their families, instead of in a hospital or long-term care facility.

GAPP recognizes that home is almost always where children heal best — and that supporting families to care for their children at home is both better for the child and more sustainable than repeated or extended hospital stays.

Who qualifies for GAPP

Eligibility centers on two things: your child's Medicaid status and their medical need. Broadly, a child may qualify if they meet the following:

• The child is under 21 years old
• The child is enrolled in Georgia Medicaid
• The child has a qualifying medical condition or disability — such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, a seizure disorder, respiratory conditions, feeding disorders, or another significant physical disability
• A physician documents that in-home skilled nursing or personal care is medically necessary

What GAPP covers

GAPP is designed to cover the real, day-to-day care a medically fragile child needs to stay safe and stable at home. Depending on your child's approved plan of care, that can include:

• Skilled nursing care (medication administration, tube feedings, trach and ventilator care, wound care, and more)
• Private duty nursing — continuous one-on-one nursing for children with the most complex needs
• Personal support services for daily living activities
• Care coordination with your child's physicians and specialists

How the approval process works

The paperwork is where many families get stuck — and it is exactly where a good home care agency earns its keep. In practice, the process looks like this: a care coordinator meets your family, reviews your child's needs, and gathers the required documentation (Medicaid ID, physician orders, diagnosis records, and current care or therapy notes). That documentation is submitted to demonstrate medical necessity, and an approved number of care hours is issued.

Approval typically takes about 30 days from the time your documentation is complete. At BrightStars there is no waitlist — once your child is approved, care can begin right away.

How much GAPP costs your family

For qualifying families, GAPP-covered services carry no out-of-pocket cost. The skilled nursing, private duty nursing, and personal care approved in your child's plan are covered through Georgia Medicaid.

That is worth pausing on: the around-the-clock reality of caring for a medically fragile child, supported by trained nurses, without the crushing bills families often fear. For many parents, GAPP is the difference between managing alone and finally having help.

Getting started the easy way

You do not have to navigate GAPP alone, and you should not have to. The simplest path is to call a home care agency experienced with GAPP and let them walk you through eligibility, collect your documentation, and submit everything for you.

If you are in Metro Atlanta, our care coordinators do this every day — for free, with no obligation. We will tell you honestly whether your child is likely to qualify and handle the process from there.