Request for Information about Financial Management Services

Your Input Is Due December 4

Forwarded by the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania – 

The Department of Human Services has issued a Request for Information concerning Financial Management Services under all home and community-based waivers and the Act 150 Attendant Care Program. Your input is due to the Department of Human Services by Friday, December 4. Details from the Department of Human Services are below.

From the Department of Human Services

Dear Stakeholders:
Pennsylvania has a long history of offering self-directed services under home- and community-based services (HCBS) programs. Self-directed services allow participants to make choices to manage their own services and employ their own direct care workers (DCWs).

With self-direction, participants can recruit, hire, train, supervise, and fire their own DCWs. A financial management services (FMS) provider acts as the employer agent and handles the employer-related fiscal and administrative tasks, including  processing timesheets, making payments, managing Social Security and tax withholding from DCWs’ paychecks, paying and filing employment taxes, and managing the workers’ compensation insurance process for participants.

Today the Department of Human Services (DHS) is releasing a Request for Information (RFI) related to the current FMS agreements and we are looking for your input.

We are evaluating the FMS agreement in the Aging, Attendant Care, COMMCARE, Independence waivers, and the Act 150 program – all administered by our Office of Long Term Living, as well as the Consolidated and the Person-Family Directed Support (P/FDS) waivers administered by our Office of Developmental Programs.

DHS is soliciting your feedback on how to improve FMS and broaden our perspectives regarding potential strategies and solutions to enhance participant choice, enhance the quality and efficiency of this program, and integrate FMS into the future managed long-term services and supports delivery system, known as Community HealthChoices (CHC).

 

As we look to improve how services are delivered to Pennsylvanians, we believe this RFI will contribute to our goals of:

• Improving the efficiency and consistency of service to participants;
• Promoting the accountability of FMS providers;
• Generating consistent and predictable FMS service costs across the waivers;
• Identifying options for quality improvement strategies and process improvement;
• Strengthening our capacity to produce and analyze benchmark statistics to support state and federal monitoring of the program; and
• Preparing for transition of FMS delivery from the current waiver programs to CHC.

 

I encourage you to provide feedback by close of business on December 4, 2015. Please submit your responses electronically to
RA-PWRFICOMMENT@pa.gov.  Thank you for taking the time to provide your valuable input.

 

The RFI is available at http://www.emarketplace.state.pa.us/Solicitations.aspx?SID=RFI OLTL FMS 2015.

 

Sincerely,

Ted Dallas
Secretary
Department of Human Services

 

Thank you,
Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania
Offices in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh