Alternative Headline: Florida Expands IDD Care Pilot
[MM Curator Summary]: Florida is expanding a pilot Medicaid managed care program for people with developmental disabilities statewide, affecting over 21,000 waitlisted individuals.
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Florida is readying to take statewide a managed care pilot program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. (Getty Images)
Medicaid officials are moving quickly to expand statewide a managed care pilot project for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities championed by Miami Republican and House Speaker Daniel Perez.
The Agency for Health Care Administration last week solicited public input on the proposed changes to the Medicaid managed care program for people with these disabilities (sometimes called “IDD”) through July 31. The state is required to give the public 30 days to comment before sending the changes to the federal government for approval. No changes can take place until the federal government agrees.
Florida requires most Medicaid beneficiaries to enroll in managed care plans. The managed care mandate doesn’t apply to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The home- and community-based services those beneficiaries require are delivered through what’s called the Medicaid iBudget program. But the iBudget program has long waiting lists and traditionally has been underfunded.
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In 2023, then-speaker designate Perez pushed for a managed care pilot program designed to provide care for up to 600 individuals in Medicaid regions D and I, who were on the iBudget wait list. Medicaid Regions D and I serve Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, Highlands, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties.
As of July 7, 378 people were enrolled in the IDD managed care pilot project, said Carol Gormley, vice president for government affairs for Independent Living Systems. That is the parent company of Florida Community Care, the state-contracted managed care plan that operates the program.
The policy update reflects changes contained in HB 1103, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last month.
The new law lifts the 600-person cap on the IDD managed care pilot program effective on Oct. 1, expanding enrollment statewide for qualifying disabled people on the wait list. Some 21,000-plus people are on the waitlist, according to a legislative analysis.
Effective in July 2026, people enrolled in the iBudget program can switch to the IDD managed care program if they choose. So can people with IDD who are enrolled in a different Medicaid managed-care program known as the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care long-term care program.
There are mixed feelings in the IDD community about the expansion of the program.
Valerie Breen, executive director of the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, told the Florida Phoenix that there hasn’t been enough experience with the pilot program to take it statewide.
“[The] council believes there should be more data before it goes statewide. In addition, we believe that people should have the ability to choose their long-term support and services,” Breen said. She added, “Communication and choices and understanding what they are going to get and what they are going to give up will be essential.”
The Arc of Florida, though, doesn’t oppose statewide expansion of the pilot program because enrollment in it isn’t mandatory, former ARC executive director Alan Abramowitz told the Florida Phoenix in May.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/30-day-public-period-underway-172546488.html
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