On February 12, the Bureau of Disabilities Services (BDS) announced the opening of the public comment period for upcoming amendments to the Community Integration and Habilitation (CIH), Family Supports (FS), Health and Wellness (H&W), TBI, and 1915 b(4) waivers.
Public notice and public comments occur prior to BDS submitting amendments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and provide an opportunity to provide input about the proposed amendments.
Public comments can be submitted now through March 18 at ddrswaivernoticecomment@fssa.in.gov.
The proposed waiver amendments are available by clicking here.
Special Ask The Arc Webinar
Karly Sciortino-Poulter, The Arc Advocacy Network Director, reviewed and discussed the proposed amendments.
Click here to view the presentation with slides.
Click here to view the Q&A portion of the webinar.
Click here to view only the slides from the presentation.
The following information shares some, but not all, of the proposed amendments to the FS, CIH, H&W, and TBI waivers.
Paid caregiver limits
- Reduced reimbursement rate for paid live-in caregivers.
- Legally Responsible Individuals (parents of a minor child and spouses) can be paid up to 40 hours per week for all LRIs combined.
- Relatives and legal guardians can be paid up to 40 hours per week each for all services combined per waiver participant. There are additional proposed changes for paid caregivers that can be viewed on these slides.
Consistency across waivers
- Service names and terms aligned across all waivers. Currently, service names and terms can have different meanings on different waivers.
- Increased documentation requirements across all waivers, with a focus on outcomes and therapeutic benefit.
Case management organizations (CMOs)
- The number of CMOs will be limited, and CMOs will be consistent across all four waivers.
- Allows for regional CMOs, with at least two in each region.
- If an individual’s CMO is not selected to continue services, the individual will have three months to select a new CMO. If they do not choose a CMO, they will be auto-assigned.
- Remember, an individual can change their CMO, or their case manager, at any time for any reason.
Case management
- Ensure timely access to case management, waiver services, and completion of duties.
- Provide more oversight of waiver services, incident reporting, and investigations.
- Caseloads limited to an average of 47 cases per case manager.
- Require case managers to live in the county they serve or within 60 miles or 60 minutes of the individuals they serve.