You may recall that DHS issued proposed amendments to the Developmental Disabilities (DD) waiver in January, with a 30-day public comment period that closed on February 16. ARRM submitted written comments with input from many of you, as did several provider organizations.
DHS issued a bulletin on May 9 announcing that CMS approved the waiver amendment package on April 19, along with a summary list of changes and clarifications. While we didn’t support all the changes DHS proposed and CMS approved, and we proposed additional changes that were not included, the list shows that there were numerous adjustments made to the final language based on feedback they received during public comment. And many of those changes were consistent with comments we made! Most of the adjustments were made to clarify when certain waiver services can and cannot be delivered simultaneously with other services, which is especially important when intermittent services are being combined with residential services.
These latest changes also include the temporary 6th bed variance for residential services, which is now available on all four waivers.
Please note that the renewal of the CAC waiver has not been approved yet. Also, DHS will be updating their policy manuals and MMIS to reflect the changes over the coming weeks.
Reach out to me if you have any questions.
-Ken Bence, Director of Research, Analysis and Policy