The Politics of Autism includes an extensive discussion of insurance and Medicaid services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) are particularly important.
“Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services” (“Access Rule”) creates historic national standards that will allow people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to better access care when they need it and also strengthens home and community-based services (HCBS), which millions of older adults and people with disabilities rely upon to live in the community. This landmark final rule will set minimum threshold standards for payments to the direct care workforce, create meaningful engagement with Medicaid consumers, and advance provider rate transparency.
...
The Access Rule strengthens HCBS by requiring that at least 80 percent of Medicaid HCBS payments directly compensate direct care workers rather than cover “administrative overhead.” The rule also requires states to report how they establish and maintain HCBS wait lists, assess wait times, and report on quality measures. This policy would allow states to take into account small providers and providers in rural areas, promote training and quality, and ensure smooth implementation with additional data collection prior to full phase-in.
It protects the health and safety of people who receive HCBS by improving states’ incident management systems and requires states to have a grievance process for all HCBS participants.
See here for a full description of the final rule and a link to the rule text.
