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West Virginia’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Waiver program connects people with disabilities to home healthcare workers and financial support, helping them live outside hospitals and institutions.
According to a Wednesday afternoon press release from Gov. Jim Justice’s office, IDD providers were notified Thursday that the Bureau for Medical Services (BMS) will increase their waiver rates by 15 percent on Oct. 1.
In 2023, an actuary firm called Myers and Stauffer LC was hired to conduct a rate study of BMS waiver programs by the agency formerly known as the Department of Health and Human Resources. The study recommended a $6.5 million rate increase for the IDD waiver program to hire and retain direct care professionals.
During the last year, BMS officials have testified to legislative committees that there is a workforce crisis in the IDD program.
Gov. Justice addressed the rate increase during his weekly press briefing.
“We worked really, really hard at this,” Justice said. “We got the money, and a lot of people, you know, working, pulling the rope together.”
A waiver rate increase will also take effect in October for family support and personal care rates.
Justice also touted his administration’s efforts to clear the IDD waitlist during his tenure.
“When I got here, we had a terrible waitlist on IDD. It took a little while, but we completely cleared the waitlist,” he said. “Now we got a new one. So we’ve got some folks that are on this new waitlist that we have now, and a goal absolutely before I walk out the door is to clear the waitlist again.”
According to the press release, BMS will remove 50 IDD members from the waitlist, in addition to the 99 members who were removed from the waitlist on July 1, 2024.
BMS will monitor the results of increased rates on member access to services as well as worker pay and turnover rates to determine if the increased rates are improving rates and retention in the Bureau.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.
