Providers and families urge $12 million annual increase to Wyoming DD waiver rates to cover costs and raise direct‑support wages

Statewide providers, families and Department of Health officials told the Wyoming Legislature’s Appropriations Committee that the state should fund a legislatively required cost rebasing for the Developmental Disabilities (DD) Medicaid waiver and that funding the study’s recommendation would require about $12 million a year (roughly $24 million per biennium).

The request, made during public comment and a question-and-answer session, was driven by providers’ claims that current Medicaid reimbursement rates do not cover operating costs and that low wages are causing high turnover among direct support professionals (DSPs), limiting the system’s capacity to serve people on the waiver wait list.

The DD waiver provides home‑and‑community‑based services to people with developmental disabilities and some people with acquired brain injuries. Bob Sell, president and CEO of ARC Regional Services in Laramie, said, “We are not advocating for a random increase in funding or an expansion of the program. We are simply asking that the program be funded at what it actually costs.” Jeff Gardner, executive director of Wyoming Community Service Providers, told the committee “providers right now are hurting financially.”

Providers said the cost‑rebasing study — which they described as focused on the wage and labor costs of DSPs — recommends raising DSP pay. Sean Griffin, CEO of Community Entry Services, summarized providers’ view: “We’re not asking for the sky or the moon. We’re asking for our cost to be covered, and that’s all.” Committee members asked how the increased funding would be spent; providers said most of the proposed…