Michael Petruzzelli
, National Council for Behavioral Health
CMS Releases Final Elements of Home and Community Based Services Toolkit
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this week released final elements of the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) toolkit. This toolkit, first released in March, is intended to assist states in implementing the requirements of the final HCBS regulation for residential and non-residential settings. In this final release, CMS provided a set of explanatory questions and answers on the applicability of the rule in non-residential settings as well as broad information regarding implementation of the final regulations.
The questions for non-residential settings serve as suggestions to assist states and stakeholders. They are meant to provide considerations for states as they assess whether non-residential HCB settings meet the Medicaid requirements. The guidance also includes suggested questions for states to consider in their broader assessment of potential indicators of quality in a setting.
The broad set of Q&A’s covers a wide range of topics in regards to comprehensive implementation of the HCBS settings. Some questions include:
- Can states set higher standards or more restrictive requirements for HCB settings than those found in the regulation?
- Does the HCB setting requirement apply to an enrollee’s private home or the relative’s home in which an enrollee resides?
- Are there a minimum number of residential settings that must be offered to an individual?
CMS previously released a set of explanatory questions and answers for residential settings, and the agency encourages states to consult both the residential and non-residential guidance when evaluating their non-residential settings. For the whole set of general Questions and Answers, click here.
For the comprehensive HCBS toolkit, click here.