Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing told its Community First Choice Council the department has revised the Direct Care Services calculator to reference age‑appropriate task standards and will release operational guidance and an updated calculator to case managers.

Eileen Saunders, an innovation unit supervisor at HCPF, said the agency changed the language in regulation from 'norms' to 'task standards' to be clearer about the specific tasks within personal care, homemaker and health maintenance activities. The calculator, launched with CFC on July 1, 2025, will include task definitions, standard task times and maximum times permitted; HCPF said tabs in the Excel 'paper' version already hold supporting reference materials and an HMA documentation guide.

Danny (HCPF staff) said the updated task standards and norms are based on national standards and research and recommendations from the University of Massachusetts and are intended as a standardized case‑management tool. HCPF said an operational memo and the updated Direct Care Services calculator would be posted within about a week or two.

Staff confirmed HMA (health maintenance activities) is not currently used by the calculator and that the tool supports IHSS and CDOS authorizations, with a bridge/tool for case managers to enter official data into the bridge system. Staff committed to sharing the Excel link in the meeting chat.

Eileen also reported enrollment figures: nearly 15,000 CFC members enrolled since the July 1 launch, roughly 500 members who are CFC‑only and almost 900 children who transitioned to the Children with Complex Health Needs waiver; members generally enroll at regularly scheduled continued stay reviews (CSR) during the transition year (07/01/2025–06/30/2026), but may enroll earlier for significant changes in condition.

The department reminded stakeholders about escalation and complaint forms for case managers and families and directed people with enrollment or difficulty‑of‑care questions to the CFC or CSC inboxes and to the difficulty‑of‑care fact sheet for eligibility workers. HCPF said the IRS difficulty‑of‑care ruling is in federal clearance and delayed due to IRS furloughs; HCPF will update stakeholders when the ruling is received.