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.