Proposed rule changes for Section 21 and Section 29 – Public comment period
As you may know, the Department utilized the emergency rule-making process for both Section 21 and Section 29, which includes changes such as raising the rates for Section 21 and 29, raising the cap for community and work supports in Section 29, adding shared living as an option to Section 29, and removing employment supports from the Section 29 cap making it a stand-alone service outside of the cap. Because the Department used the emergency rule-making process, those rules were provisionally accepted immediately and went into effect on September 29th.
DHHS has moved quickly to put into effect the raised caps for Section 29 and the temporary increase in rates for Direct Service Professionals under Sections 21 and 29. They are to be commended for their responsiveness to our request to expedite these changes. Also, the Department is to be commended for looking at support for employment as outside of the Section 29 cap. This is advantageous, consistent with employment first, and something the Coalition has long supported.
The comment period is still open for a short while. People who have reviewed these changes have found some unintended consequences and inconsistencies within provisions of the rule changes, and those (and ideas of how to comment) are outlined in bullet form below:
Section 21:
Section 21 & Section 29:
PUBLIC COMMENT INFORMATION: Public comments for the two proposed rules relating to Section 29 are due tomorrow, Friday, 11/10; public comments for the proposed rule changes for Section 21 are due on Sunday, 11/12. See below for more information and how to submit comments.
(Click here for more information on the proposed rule changes, including how to submit written comments)
How to submit comments: You can submit comments online through the links above, and doing so is easy – simply click the links above where it says “click here for public comments” for the corresponding rule change, enter your name, contact information, and type your comments in the space provided. All mandatory fields are highlighted in yellow. You can also email your written comments directly to Rachel Posner, the agency contact, at [email protected] Your comments don’t have to be long and your message can be simple.
As you may know, the Department utilized the emergency rule-making process for both Section 21 and Section 29, which includes changes such as raising the rates for Section 21 and 29, raising the cap for community and work supports in Section 29, adding shared living as an option to Section 29, and removing employment supports from the Section 29 cap making it a stand-alone service outside of the cap. Because the Department used the emergency rule-making process, those rules were provisionally accepted immediately and went into effect on September 29th.
DHHS has moved quickly to put into effect the raised caps for Section 29 and the temporary increase in rates for Direct Service Professionals under Sections 21 and 29. They are to be commended for their responsiveness to our request to expedite these changes. Also, the Department is to be commended for looking at support for employment as outside of the Section 29 cap. This is advantageous, consistent with employment first, and something the Coalition has long supported.
The comment period is still open for a short while. People who have reviewed these changes have found some unintended consequences and inconsistencies within provisions of the rule changes, and those (and ideas of how to comment) are outlined in bullet form below:
Section 21:
- Though the rates have been increased for Section 21, the caps were not increased correspondingly. There is concern that a possible unintended consequence could be that people will reach the cap on Section 21 utilizing fewer hours of services than before, because the cap wasn’t adjusted for the rate increase. One might want to encourage DHHS to make the Section 21 cap increase in a manner that corresponds with the rate increase.
- When the Department included shared living in Section 29 it removed employment supports from the cap. Employment supports appear completely uncapped in Section 29. The Department ought to be commended for encouraging successful employment through these rule changes. In the rules, it appears that Section 21 employment supports are still capped. This appears to be an inconsistency, and one might want to encourage support for employment within Section 21 as well as Section 29.
Section 21 & Section 29:
- The Legislature set aside funding to increase the reimbursement rates; in their calculations, they had the rates starting on October 1st. However, instead of starting the new rates on October 1st, the Department made the rate increases retroactive to July 1st. Functionally, it appears that the increase in the rate for service is about 25% less than originally thought, because the same amount of funding is spread across twelve months instead of nine. One might want to encourage that this be corrected so that the increase for service rate actually occurs for a full year as intended by the Legislature.
- The mechanism for the retroactive rate increases appears unnecessarily challenging for providers. It appears that providers must give the state back all the money they’re received for those services, retrospectively to July, then seek reimbursement for the full amount at the increased rate. It’s estimated that it could take the state up to two months to reimburse providers. Providers also must wait for the go-ahead to begin billing at the higher rate. This could cause significant financial burdens for providers. One might want to encourage DHHS to simplify reimbursement in a manner that will be most feasible for service providers.
PUBLIC COMMENT INFORMATION: Public comments for the two proposed rules relating to Section 29 are due tomorrow, Friday, 11/10; public comments for the proposed rule changes for Section 21 are due on Sunday, 11/12. See below for more information and how to submit comments.
- Section 21, Chapter III (Major Substantive Rule Change, to address rate increases approved for FY 2018)
- Section 29, Chapter II (Rule change addressing the increase to the Section 29 cap, added services, and services available but removed from the caps)
- Section 29, Chapter III (Major Substantive Rule Change, to address rate increases approved for FY 2018)
(Click here for more information on the proposed rule changes, including how to submit written comments)
How to submit comments: You can submit comments online through the links above, and doing so is easy – simply click the links above where it says “click here for public comments” for the corresponding rule change, enter your name, contact information, and type your comments in the space provided. All mandatory fields are highlighted in yellow. You can also email your written comments directly to Rachel Posner, the agency contact, at [email protected] Your comments don’t have to be long and your message can be simple.