From OPWDD: Public Comment Period for the Draft 1915(c) HCBS 2019 Waiver Renewal Announced

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) is pleased to announce the opportunity for public comment on the draft 1915(c) Comprehensive Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) 2019 Waiver Renewal.

The HCBS Waiver is the Medicaid program that provides opportunities for adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities to receive services in their own home or community. The draft 2019 Waiver Renewal includes updates to the OPWDD quality improvement strategy to reflect current workgroups and committees, allows Nurse Practitioners to complete initial Level of Care (LOC) reviews and annual LOC redeterminations as well as other initiatives derived from the approved 2019-2020 New York State Budget.

The Waiver Renewal will be retroactive to October 1, 2019 and will span the course of a five-year period through September 30, 2024. This five-year agreement will fund Home and Community-Based Services for over 84,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The public comment period will be open from September 16, 2019 through October 18, 2019. A copy of the draft 2019 Waiver Renewal is available on the OPWDD website at: https://opwdd.ny.gov/opwdd_services_supports/people_first_waiver/HCBS_waiver_services. Hard copies of the draft 2019 Waiver Renewal will also be available at the OPWDD Developmental Disabilities Regional Offices (DDROs) at the addresses identified below this message. Comments may be submitted in writing via email to: peoplefirstwaiver@opwdd.ny.gov or by mail to: OPWDD,

Attention: Division of Policy and Program Development, 44 Holland Avenue, Albany, NY 12229. Please specify 1915(c) Waiver Renewal Comments in the subject line.

Following the review of public comment, New York State will submit the draft 2019 Waiver Renewal application to the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for approval.

In addition, OPWDD will be conducting two webinars on Thursday, September 19, 2019 to provide an overview of the proposed changes included in the draft 2019 Waiver Renewal. To register for one of the two webinars, visit the OPWDD website at: https://opwdd.ny.gov/opwdd_services_supports/people_first_waiver/HCBS_waiver_services.

We welcome your comments and thank you for your continued advocacy for New Yorkers with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Sincerely,

Theodore Kastner, MD, MS

Commissioner

Hard copies of the Waiver Renewal will be available at the following locations:

Finger Lakes DDRO, 620 Westfall Road, Suite 108, Rochester, NY 14620
Western NY DDRO, 1200 East and West Road, West Seneca, NY 14224
Broome DDRO, 229-231 State Street, 2nd Floor, Binghamton, NY 13901
Central NY DDRO, 187 Northern Concourse, North Syracuse, NY 13212
Sunmount DDRO, 2445 State Route 30, Tupper Lake, NY 12986
Capital District DDRO, 500 Balltown Road, Schenectady, NY 12304
Hudson Valley DDRO, 9 Wilbur Road, Thiells, NY 10984
Taconic DDRO, 38 Firemens Way, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Bernard Fineson DDRO, 80-45 Winchester Boulevard, Building 80, 2nd Floor Administrative Suite, Queens Village, NY 11428