Now Available: AAW Amendment Submitted to CMS

ODP Announcement 22-059 informs readers that the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is pleased to announce that an amendment to the AAW was submitted to CMS on May 9, 2022. The submitted AAW includes modifications that were made as a result of public comment. The AAW amendment includes the following substantive changes:

• Adding reserved waiver capacity for individuals who are discharged from a state center. Reserved waiver capacity is also being added for participants who have been incarcerated for more than six consecutive months;
• Aligning provider qualifications in the AAW with the Consolidated, Community Living, and Person/Family Directed Support (P/FDS) waivers, whenever possible;
• Allowing relatives to deliver the Life Sharing component of the Residential Habilitation service;
• Requiring that agencies that provide Residential Habilitation/Life Sharing must be qualified and enrolled to provide Residential Habilitation/Life Sharing in the Consolidated or Community Living waivers;
• Increasing the annual fiscal limit in the transportation service to $5,000 per participant’s ISP year;
• Allowing one of the four required monitoring conducted by the Supports Coordinator each year to be conducted remotely;
• Adding a new service, Remote Supports; and
• Delivering direct services using remote technology.

The requirements in the AAW will become effective when Appendix K flexibilities expire, six months after the expiration of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency.

Please note that aligning the Assistive Technology service, where possible, with the Consolidated, Community Living, and P/FDS waivers includes adding generators for the participant’s primary residence.

The full AAW application, as well as a record of substantive changes, is available here.

CMS has 90 days to review the amendment, and changes may occur to the content based upon discussion with CMS during the approval process. The proposed effective date of July 1, 2022, is also subject to change. ODP will inform all stakeholders when CMS has officially approved the AAW and will make the approved waiver available at that time.

Questions about this communication should be directed via email.