Pennsylvania Community Living Waiver Approved By CMS
Pennsylvania’s new Community Living Waiver has been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) effective January 1, 2018. The Community Living Waiver was developed in accordance with the enacted budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018, which provided funding for the development and implementation of a new intermediate waiver that will provide services to approximately 1,000 individuals with an intellectual disability or autism, as well as children under age 9 with a developmental disability who have a high probability of resulting in an intellectual disability or autism.
The community living waiver closely resembles the Person/Family Directed Supports Waiver that Pennsylvania operates, with a few notable differences:
- There is a limit of 70,000 per person, per fiscal year for waiver services.
- Life sharing will be available for needs groups 1 and 2 and for people who need less than 30 hours per week of supports on average.
- Supported living services will be available at needs group 1 and 2.
- Vehicle accessibility adaptations will be limited to 20,000 during a 10-year period.
The Community Living Waiver will support people to live in their homes and communities through the provision of a variety of services that promote community involvement, employment, communication, self-direction, choice and control.