DDES INFO MEMO 2005-10
September 8, 2005
To:
Area Administrators / Human Services Area Coordinators
Bureau Directors
County Departments of Community Programs Directors
County Departments of Developmental Disabilities Services Directors
County Departments of Human Services Directors
County Departments of Social Services Directors
Section Chiefs / Licensing Chiefs
Tribal Chairpersons / Human Services Facilitators
From:
Sinikka Santala
Administrator
Re:
Policies related to Hurricane Katrina for Home and Community Based
Waiver Services, Managed Long Term Care Programs, and Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services
During the past several days we all have been deeply touched by the
suffering of citizens of the Gulf impacted by Hurricane Katrina and the
flooding in New Orleans. As you know, Governor Doyle has indicated that
Wisconsin will assist the victims of this disaster. We are anticipating
evacuees from the area to arrive in Wisconsin, and as you have seen,
some have arrived already.
Economic support units will receive instructions for enrolling
evacuees arriving in Wisconsin from the Gulf states. Many counties have
requested guidance on providing for other needs of evacuees. Because the
Department has not received complete information from federal agencies,
we are suggesting that county human services, social services and
community programs proceed as indicated below.
Serving evacuees in home and community-based waiver programs.
For those evacuees that appear to be in need of Community Options
Program or Community Integration Program services, counties should
follow procedures for establishing Medicaid financial eligibility. To
establish functional eligibility, complete as much of the Long-term Care
Functional Screen as possible recognizing it may not be possible to
verify medical history information. Counties can begin development of
the assessment and care plan. Follow usual procedures for submitting
care plans for review by the Bureau of Long-Term Support. Full funding
for care plans will be provided on a case-by-case basis.
Counties will need to separately track waiver costs through the HSRS
system in order to facilitate federal claiming for all costs. All
Katrina evacuees who are served by one of our state/county contract
agencies (i.e. DSS, DCP or HSD) should be reported on the Human Services
Reporting System (HSRS). Please report all Katrina evacuees in the HSRS
CORE module. These participants should be identified with client
characteristic code '91' in field #7. This is a newly created code to
identify those individuals involved in the Katrina relief efforts. Data
entry instructions will be forthcoming from the HSRS SOS DESK.
Serving evacuees in managed long-term care programs.
Evacuees seeking long-term support services in Family Care counties
or through the Wisconsin Partnership Program can be enrolled once the
expedited Medicaid enrollment process is completed. To establish
functional eligibility, complete as much of the Long-term Care
Functional Screen as possible recognizing it may not be possible to
verify medical history information. Managed care organizations will need
to track expenditures for evacuees separately in order to facilitate
federal claiming for all costs.
Serving evacuees in mental health and substance abuse programs.
Evacuees seeking mental health and substance abuse services through
county programs should be handled as if the individual is a county
resident. While many of these individuals may ultimately be determined
to be Medicaid eligible, it may not be the case at the time of service.
The best approach is to document all services provided and activities
for these individuals and establish some way of noting that the person
is an evacuee. Billing and reimbursement for MA individuals can occur up
to a year after the date of service. This should apply to those counties
providing CSP, Day Treatment, Outpatient, CCS, and Crisis Intervention.
For individuals requiring emergency detention or detoxification, the
case should be handled as any other detention or detoxification.
However, if the individual is transferred to either Mendota MHI or
Winnebago MHI, information should be given to those facilities that the
individual is an evacuee.
We recognize that counties have many questions about funding the
needed services. At this point, we do not have detailed information from
the federal government about reimbursement. Therefore, we suggest that
counties track their expenses, including administrative and other
staffing costs as well as service cost so expenses can be claimed once
the process is clarified.
Thank you for your willingness to assist people whose lives are so
completely changed by this disaster.
REGIONAL OFFICE CONTACT:
Area Administration
CENTRAL OFFICE CONTACT:
Judith E. Frye
Associate Administrator
Long-Term Support
(608) 266-5156
MEMO WEB SITE:
http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/partners/local.htm
Return
to Info Memos Index
|
