DHS Publishes Proposed Amendments to OBRA Waiver
The Department of Human Services (DHS) has released the Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL’s) proposed OBRA waiver amendments for public review and comment in the August 24, 2019 Pennsylvania Bulletin.
DHS proposes the following substantive changes to the OBRA waiver effective January 1, 2020:
- Revise the Residential Habilitation service definition by modifying the number of hours that are defined as a day unit from a minimum of 12 hours to 8 hours.
- To the service definitions of Job Finding, Job Coaching, Employment Skills Development, Career Assessment, and Benefits Counseling, add language that Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) services are considered not to be available if OVR has not made an eligibility determination within 120 days; and add language to address when employment services through the OBRA waiver can be provided should OVR close the order of selection, thereby creating a waiting list for OVR services.
In addition, DHS proposes to make the following technical edits:
- Update Appendix C-2.b., Abuse Registry Screening, to reflect that the Department utilizes IDEMIA as the data system to process fingerprint-based Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal record checks as well as other minor editorial changes to the section.
The proposed amendments and a summary of all of the revisions are available for review here.
Written comments regarding these proposed waiver amendments will be accepted through close of business on Monday, September 23, 2019 and should be sent to the Department of Human Services, Office of Long-Term Living, Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management, Attention: OBRA Waiver Amendments, PO Box 8025, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8025. Comments may also be submitted to the Department via email. Please use OBRA Waiver Amendments as the subject line.
