4^th Virtual Town Hall: 

Tuesday, July 14 at 7PM 

Dr. Ted Kastner, Commissioner of OPWDD

Will be the featured speaker

What does the future hold for people with IDD as we grapple with the economic, health and social consequences of Covid 19?

REGISTER AND SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS HERE

What does the future hold for people with IDD as we grapple with the economic, health and social consequences of Covid 19?

REGISTER AND SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS HERE

WHAT’S THE PLAN?

3rd Virtual Town Hall:
Wednesday July 8 at 7PM

Re-Opening
Who? What? When? How?
Share your thinking

What is the future for Adult Day Services?
Hear from our panelists about what they are planning
This is your chance to tell them what you want and need

REGISTER HERE & SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS

CARE DESIGN NY

HCBS Waiver Amendment Call: June 4, 2020

• This amendment to the HCBS waiver will be considered “Amendment 03”
• OPWDD/DOH will make revisions to the authorities CMS has granted due to COVID 19 which will be considered Amendment 02
• Proposed waiver amendment effective date Oct 1^st, 2020
• Appendix B: proposes that CM and DDRO signatures not required on Documentation of Choices form
• Appendix C: Comm Hab Authorization – clarifies that all authorizations for Comm Hab are authorized by Regional Office
• Removal of CCO consent form from LifePlan review
  • OPWDD proposing to remove this from the list of documents required for annual review
  • The form will continue to be required but won’t be included as part of the annual LP review documentation list
• EMOD/VMOD: Appendix C and Addendum A
  • Clarification that service limits are per calendar year
• 2% across the board cuts were proposed initially
• Based on feedback, trying to pinpoint and target certain waiver rates to reduce rather than across the board
• Targeted areas where services aren’t being directly provided including:
  • Occupancy factor
    • True vacant units that did not have a service associated with them over the course of time
  • Retainer day
    • A day in which someone is outside the residence but receiving inpatient Medicaid service
  • Therapeutic leave day
  • Not changing any unit calculations for retainer days but looking to propose a limit on the number of therapeutic leave days
  • Proposed waiver limits retainer and therapeutic to 50%
• Occupancy adjustment for IRA
  • Individuals are not in the home
  • Bed is vacant
  • Appendix I and Addendum A of the waiver
• Retainer days for IRAs
  • Reimbursed at 50% of provider’s established rate
  • Individuals are not in the home
  • Specific to times when individuals are in another Medicaid setting
  • Addendum A
• Therapy Days
  • Originally had monthly unit of service which was equal to 22 days, allowing indiv to go home on the weekends, vacation etc.
  • This would go back to original intent and limit them to 96 days
  • Addendum A
• Vacancy
  • Vacant days through the occupancy adjustment will cease on 9/30
  • Beds that do not belong to a specific individual
• Last year tried to align OPWDD regions with DOH regions
  • Prevoc still had not been aligned
  • This proposes alignment
  • Appendix C and Addendum A
• Self-Direction
  • Change to the IDGS grid on page 395
  • Clarification that service related transportation costs are included in the methodology cost of the service
  • Not an operational change, just making sure the waiver addresses current policy in this area
• Provider Cost Report Deadline
  • Proposing more flexibility for the instances in which the Commissioner can determine when/where the provider may have issues meeting the CFR deadline
  • Appendix I Addendum A
• Questions/Answers
  • Will the DDROs continue to conduct service auth for Comm Hab?
    • Yes
  • Is this review going to apply to all Comm Hab services or only those for self-direction?
    • At this point, guidance to DDRO is for services outside SD
  • Will providers get the occupancy adjustment for vacancy days through sept 30 2020?
    • Yes, survey for this sent out recently
  • Are retainer days still limited by certified capacity or be limited by per person basis?
    • Retainer day definition change that took place last July  – changed to capacity times 14 per rate year  – is still in effect
    • The definition change from last year does not change with this current amendment
  • Will the rate year continue to be July 1 through June 30 or will it change to Oct through Sept?
    • Two rate periods currently:
      • Jan-Dec
      • July-June
      • This will stay in effect
  • Will property reimbursements will be calculated different?
    • No, no change at this time
  • Therapy days  – will they be reimbursed at 50% of the rate for all therapy days or once the 96 day cap has been hit?
    • 2 step:
      • Right now they’re unlimited – high utilization
      • Two step process:
        • 96 day per person cap
        • All 96 per person per rate year will be reimbursed at 50% of the DOH calculated rate
  • What is the limit for retainer days?
    • Varies by provider
    • Used to be 14 pp per rate year
    • OPWDD wanted more flexibility – Donna was successful in getting federal approval for this
  • Will any of the changes discussed today affect SD re: self-hired staff?
    • No
  • Comm Hab review – will this be retro actively applied?
    • No – this is for new requests only
  • Is the transportation change only in relation to IDTS?
    • Yes
  • COVID-19 flexibilities will not be addressed today in this webinar – additional guidance will be released on the OPWDD webpage related to this
    • Because of the pandemic, there are emergency actions that affect the waiver but those are time limited
  • Changes for res hab/rate changes – what will be the base year for those rates?
    • Last amendment – redefined the base year to be a year in the four-year period of the State’s choosing (wasn’t prescribed)
    • The construct of what will be set as the base year is still undetermined
    • Two issues at play:
      • Higher costs for 2020 related to COVID
      • Could disproportionally impact providers due to staffing issues, loss in productivity, etc.
      • Don’t want to permanently memorialize based on pandemic challenges
      • Extended submission of costs reports via the Appendix K
  • Will the proposed changes to Comm Hab affect service deliver or service provision?
    • Don’t believe so; the changes are to make sure that the request coming into the DDRO are made consistently across the State
    • Ensure OPWDD has consistent decision-making process

May 27th

OPWDD announced new Budget Cuts

To the

The 1915(c) Medicaid Waiver Amendment

This will change the funding and availability of

Community Habilitation (Comm Hab)

& Residential Services

Any cut to state spending on Medicaid means double the impact

Because the Federal Government matches what the state spends.

There was no advance warning to stakeholders about this.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR SERVICES?

Join NYC FAIR for our Virtual ZOOM Meeting

on

Thursday, June 11^th, 7pm

Hear from

Susan Constantino, CEO of CP State

Linda Schellenberg, FI, Center for Family Support

Steve Towler, VP Programs & Business Development, AHRC NYC

 Explain the implications, ramifications and outcomes of this move on the part of OPWDD 

 REGISTER NOW: https://forms.gle/XS1EdLdhtCHUrRt36

OPWDD is offering two webinars Thursday June 4 to explain the amendment: Click here for details. https://opwdd.ny.gov/providers/home-and-community-based-services-waiver
 
There is a comment period until July 1, 2020