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In early May, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency responsible for the oversight and regulation of Medicaid services, proposed a major new rule with the intent of ensuring access to home and community-based services. According to CMS, the rule seeks to “increase transparency and accountability, standardize data and monitoring, and create opportunities for States to promote active beneficiary engagement in their Medicaid programs, with the goal of improving access to care.”
In response to the proposed rule The Arc of California has submitted comments that uphold much of the intent of the rule but outlines major concerns with the implementation, specifically that the rule would require that a state ensure that at least 80 percent of all payments with respect to homemaker, home health aide, and personal care services be spent on compensation for direct care workers. The 80% appears to be an arbitrary percentage selected by CMS and also conflicts with California’s recently enacted DDS rate models, which has used economic data to determine the percentage each service type should spend on the provider workforce.
Click following link to view The Arc of CA Comments to Proposed Medicaid Access Rule