Home and Community
Based Waivers

According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services:

 

Minnesotans with disabilities or chronic illnesses who need certain levels of care may qualify for the state's home and community-based waiver programs.

 

Medicaid home and community-based service (HCBS) waivers afford states the flexibility to develop and implement creative alternatives to placing Medicaid-eligible people in hospitals, nursing facilities or Intermediate Care Facilities for Persons with Developmental Disabilities (ICFs/DD). HCBS waivers allow states to put together various service options that are not available under regular Medical Assistance. These service options are available to people in addition to services covered by Medical Assistance. Generally, these services are targeted to people with specific needs or diagnosis.

 

Minnesota has 6 waiver programs; Alternative Care (AC), Brain Injury (BI), Community Alternative Care (CAC), Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI), Developmental Disabilities (DD), and the Elderly Waiver (EW). Detailed descriptions can be found here. One of the service delivery options for waiver participants is Consumer Directed Community Supports (CDCS), which gives the participant the flexibility to design their own plan for the services and supports they need. 

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As a waiver recipient selecting the CDCS service delivery option, participants can write their own plan, or hire a support planner to assist them. Support planners are required to abide by the support planner service standards.