CMS Approval of Maine's Initial Statewide Transition Plan
Maine Department of Health & Human Services sent this bulletin at 06/02/2020 02:26 PM EDT
CMS APPROVAL OF MAINE’S INITIAL STATEWIDE TRANSITION PLAN
The Offices of MaineCare Services and Aging and Disability Services are pleased to announce the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted initial approval of Maine’s Statewide Transition Plan (STP) to bring settings into compliance with the federal home and community-based services (HCBS) regulations found at 42 CFR Section 441.301(c)(4)(5) and Section 441.710(a)(1)(2).
In January 2014, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new rule regarding Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) which took effect March 17, 2014. The rule requires that people who receive home- and community-based services and supports funded through Medicaid (known as MaineCare in Maine) must receive those services and supports in settings (places) that meet specific standards. The standards are designed to ensure the settings are truly home- and community-based. This means that individuals receiving services in these settings have full access to the greater community and can enjoy all of the benefits of community living. The rule came into effect after a five-year federal rulemaking process with multiple public comment periods during which over 2,000 comments were submitted from across the country, including comments from individuals with disabilities and their families. The overall goal is to ensure all HCBS programs provide a setting and experience that is very distinct from an institution [e.g. a hospital, nursing facility or intermediate care facility for people with intellectual disabilities (ICF-IID)].
The STP is intended to serve as the state’s roadmap for implementing the federal HCBS rule with fidelity and outlines a detailed work plan and timeline for ensuring that all settings in which HCBS services are provided comply with the new standards by March of 2022. The state of Maine is deeply committed to not only implementing the federal HCBS requirements with fidelity, but to use the rule as a catalyst for implementing other improvements to policy, payment, and practice associated with Medicaid-funded HCBS in an effort to improve access to and quality of HCBS services and options throughout the state. As such, the state has been working with stakeholders on a number of additional systems-change efforts that complement the vision of the federal HCBS rule.
As outlined in the STP, Maine has an aggressive work plan ahead to achieve final STP approval from CMS by March 2022. We look forward to working with our partners in reaching this goal.
Maine’s approved initial STP can be viewed at: