Senate human services panel approves $9M appropriation to continue family paid caregiver pilot, removes enrollment cap

The North Dakota Senate Human Services Committee unanimously approved an amendment to Senate Bill 23.05 that puts $9,000,000 into the bill, removes a provision capping the number of participants and changes the title to the "family paid caregiver service pilot project." The committee then voted to pass the bill as amended and re‑refer it to the Appropriations Committee.

The amendment and final motion were presented to the committee as a way to preserve the Family Paid Caregiver pilot while the state develops a cross‑disability waiver model. Sarah Akers, executive director of the Division of Medical Services at the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, told the committee the amendment was drafted with advocates, family members and department staff and aims to ensure continuity for people currently enrolled in the pilot and to allow the family‑paid caregiver model to be incorporated into the forthcoming cross‑disability waiver.

Akers described the fiscal calculations the department used. The department used the current aged and disabled waiver daily rate of $159.54 and assumed the service could be billed up to five days per week. Using a 1.5 percent inflation…