News Release
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003
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Contact: CMS Public Affairs
(202) 690-6145
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HHS APPROVES FLORIDA INDEPENDENCE PLUS WAIVER TO ALLOW
MORE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO CONTROL THEIR CARE
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today approved a Florida Medicaid waiver to expand the number of people with disabilities who can participate in decisions about care in their communities instead of institutions.
"Florida's waiver will allow more consumers and their families to play an active role in deciding how to plan, obtain and sustain community-based services," Secretary Thompson said. "We are committed to giving states greater flexibility in designing programs to help people with disabilities live fuller, more independent lives."
With this approval, Florida will expand its existing Medicaid consumer-directed care program using HHS' Independence Plus initiative, which is designed to make it easier for states to give beneficiaries with disabilities more control over their care and other services. Consumers and their families will be involved in planning all aspects of service delivery, including hiring, training and, if necessary, firing service providers.
Under the new waiver, state officials expect about 150 additional people to participate in the consumer-directed program, which already serves about 2,000 residents. Participation is available to the frail elderly and adults and children with disabilities who are eligible for Medicaid in Florida. The waiver provides family and support care coordination, enhanced personal care, respite, home and vehicle modifications for children with developmental disabilities. Research has shown that when consumers control their own Medicaid personal assistance services they are more satisfied with their lives and their support services.
Florida is the second state to receive a waiver under the Independence Plus initiative. The initiative is designed to help states fulfill the goals of President Bush's New Freedom Initiative -- a broad government-wide effort to ensure that Americans with disabilities have the opportunity to live close to their families and friends, to live more independently, to engage in productive employment and to promote community life.
States can use the Independence Plus initiative to obtain waivers that strengthen supports to families or individuals, facilitate cost-effective decision making by families, and aid states in meeting their legal obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, which encourages services in the most integrated setting for people with disabilities.
"Allowing persons with disabilities and their families to engage to direct their care is a high priority for the Bush Administration," said Tom Scully, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees federal health insurance programs.
As former governors, President Bush and Secretary Thompson have made it a priority to make it simpler for states to submit Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program waiver requests and to initiate new programs such as Independence Plus. Since January 2001, HHS has approved waivers and plan amendments that have expanded eligibility to more than 2 million people and enhanced benefits for more than six million people.
Additional information regarding federal support of consumer-direction options can be obtained at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/independenceplus.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
Last Revised: February 12, 2003
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