Basic Care Assistance Program (BCAP)

To qualify for the Basic Care Assistance Program, you must:

• Be a resident of North Dakota
• Be age 65 or older OR age 18 or older, blind or disabled
• Apply and qualify for North Dakota Medicaid and 
• Have a functional assessment to see how you handle activities of daily living like bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, etc. 

Basic Care Brochure

A functional assessment is an evaluation of a person's ability to live independently.

A home and community-based service (HCBS) case manager does the assessment.

Basic care is appropriate for those who are not severely impaired in activities of daily living, transferring to or from a bed or chair, or eating. 

Those who have health, welfare, or safety needs or who are impaired in three of the four activities of daily living (preparing meals, doing housework, taking medications or doing laundry) may need services of a licensed, basic care facility.

First, you must qualify for ND Medicaid. For income and asset amounts, check the eligibility requirements for Medicaid. 

Basic Care Assistance Program recipients are allowed to keep $135 per month for personal needs. Any other income is paid to the basic care facility or for health insurance and medical costs.

What care costs your income does not cover, the Basic Care Assistance Program pays directly to the basic care facility.

To apply, you must fill out an application for assistance. You can apply online, on paper, by mail or over the phone.

If you need help applying, contact the Customer Support Center:

Email: applyforhelp@nd.gov
Phone: (866) 614-6005
Fax: (701) 328-1006 
Mail: Customer Support Center P.O. Box 5562 Bismarck ND 58506

You can also visit a human service zone office. 

North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS) follows federal and state laws on privacy. Only those whose job requires them to view your personal information in order to administer the programs, or process payments, have access to your information. 

Team members from HHS, the Customer Support Center and human service zone offices are bound by strict confidentiality rules that do not allow unauthorized disclosure of your personal information.

North Dakota Health and Human Services has a wide range of programs and services. You can Apply for Help to find programs that may be able to help with your needs. North Dakota has programs to help with:

• Paying for health care
• Paying for Medicare premiums
• Paying for child care
• Paying for food 
  • SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
  • WIC (Women's Infant and Children Program)
• TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
• Paying for heat or cooling costs
  • LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program)