2019 OBRA Waiver Amendment
Effective January 1, 2020
The Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) will be submitting an amendment to the OBRA Waiver with an effective date of January 1, 2020. The Department proposes the following substantive and technical changes to the OBRA Waiver:
- 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 a minimum of 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 to not 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.
- Update language to reflect that the Department utilizes IDEMIA as the data system to process fingerprint-based Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal record checks as well as other minor editorial changes to the section.
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments regarding the proposed waiver amendments to the Department of Human Services, Office of Long-Term Living, Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management, Attention: OBRA Waiver Amendments, P.O. Box 8025, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8025. Comments may also be submitted to the Department at RA-waiverstandard@pa.gov. Please use OBRA Waiver Amendments as the subject line. Comments received by close of business on September 23, 2019, will be reviewed and considered for revisions to the proposed waiver amendments.
The OBRA Waiver amendment public notice was published on Saturday, August 24, 2019, in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. View the public notice here.
(*) This Appendix contains proposed changes
Side by Side Comparison of Proposed Changes
Purpose of OBRA Waiver Amendment*
Main Module*
Appendix A: Waiver Administration and Operation
Appendix B: Participant Access and Eligibility
Appendix E: Participant Direction of Services
Appendix F: Participant Rights
Appendix G: Participant Safeguards
Appendix H: Quality Improvement Strategy
Appendix I: Financial Accountability
Appendix J: Cost Neutrality Demonstration
OBRA Waiver Comment Form