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A List of COP and Medicaid Home and Community-based Waivers Managed by Wisconsin Counties

Community Options Program

The Community Options Program (COP) or "regular Community Options" uses state funds monitored by the Department of Health and Family Services and administered by local county agencies to deliver community-based services to Wisconsin citizens who need long term assistance in performing the activities of daily living. Any person regardless of age who, due to chronic disabilities, needs a level of care for which Medical Assistance would purchase nursing home care is eligible for Community Options. Began in some counties in 1982; expanded state-wide in 1986.  COP may pay for persons not eligible for a waiver or may be used as state match to expand the Medicaid waivers described below.

Medical Assistance Waiver Programs

  • Community Options Program Waiver (COP-Waiver; COP-W): Provides Medical Assistance funding for home and community-based care for elderly and individuals with physical disabilities who have long term care needs and who would otherwise be eligible for Medical Assistance reimbursement in a nursing home. County participation was mandated effective January 1, 1990.

  • Community Integration Program II (CIP II): A Medical Assistance funded program to provide community long-term care services to elderly and individual with physical disabilities whereby medical assistance funds were made available after a nursing home bed is closed. County  participation was mandated effective January 1, 1990.

  • As of September 2005, Community Relocation Initiative funding was created within CIP II for people residing in a nursing home seeking to relocate to a home/apartment or assisted living setting.

  • Community Integration Program IA (CIP IA): A Medical Assistance funded program to provide community services to persons who are relocated from the State Centers for the Developmentally Disabled. County participation was mandated effective January 1, 1996.

  • Community Integration Program IB (CIP IB): A Medical Assistance funded program to provide community services to persons with developmental disabilities who are relocated or diverted from nursing homes and Intermediate Care Facilities-Mental Retardation (ICFs-MR) other than the State Centers for the Developmentally Disabled. County participation was mandated effective January 1, 1996.

  • Brain Injury Waiver:  A Medical Assistance waiver for a limited number of people with brain injuries who need significant supports in the community. Persons eligible for the brain injury waiver must be eligible for Medicaid and meet the definition of brain injury in 
    s. 51.01 (2g), Wis. Stats. In addition, the persons must be receiving or be eligible to receive post acute rehabilitation services in a nursing home or hospital designated as a special unit for brain injury rehabilitation by the Wisconsin Medical Assistance Program (WMAP). the person must also have, as a result of the injury, significant physical, cognitive, emotional and/or behavioral impairments. This program began January 1, 1995.

  • Community Opportunities and Recovery Waiver (COR): Provides Medical Assistance funding for home and community-based services for adult persons with serious mental illness who are receiving specialized psychiatric rehabilitative services, a co-occurring physical disability and who choose to relocate from a nursing home to the community.  Administered by the Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (DMHSAS), COR is a recovery focused waiver program designed to support the individual in conjunction with a county Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) or Community Support Program (CSP) and the individual's personal MA card.  Eligibility for COR will be based on initial and continuing Long Term Care Functional Screen eligibility, a diagnosis of serious mental illness, with a need for specialized psychiatric rehabilitative services, and the interest and the ability of the  individual to live in a a community setting.  The COR waiver uses the existing financial and functional eligibility processes in place for the Community Options Program - Waiver (COP-W) participants.  Individuals seeking diversion from nursing home placement are not included in COR.  DMHSAS Action Memo 2007-17 titled "Community Opportunities and Recovery (COR) Waiver" was issued on September 20, 2007, and provides details on how a county or tribe can participate in the COR home and community based services waiver program.

  • Children's Long-Term Support (CLTS) Waivers: These waivers are called home and community-based service (HCBS) waivers. The waivers give the state the flexibility to develop and implement creative alternatives to placing Medicaid-eligible individuals in hospitals, nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities for persons with mental retardation. The HCBS waiver program recognizes that many individuals at risk of being placed in these facilities can be cared for in their homes and communities, preserving their independence and ties to family and friends at a cost on average that is no more than that of institutional care.

Last Revised: February 27, 2008

 

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Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services
Protecting and promoting the health and safety of the people of Wisconsin