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Committee approves consolidated Medicaid Plan Benefits rules; staff to work with stakeholders on technical issues
Summary
The committee approved the Department of Health and Welfare's consolidated Medicaid Plan Benefits docket, which folds in consumer-directed services and makes several non-substantive updates; members asked for continued stakeholder engagement and departmental follow-up on implementation questions.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved the temporary and pending rule for the consolidated Medicaid Plan Benefits docket after hearing from Jared Larson and provider representatives.
Larson told the committee the consolidated docket brings all Medicaid plan provisions into a single rule chapter and does not introduce new policy but removes outdated or duplicative language. He listed several specific updates: adding case management for certain HCBS waiver participants, removing an age-18 requirement for personal care service providers except for school-based services, aligning the definition of "extraordinary care" with federal guidance, moving regulatory support for Healthy Connections to provider handbooks, and adding speech-language pathology assistants as eligible providers.
Committee members voiced concerns about the length of the document and the accessibility of policy content if operational details migrate to handbooks rather than rules. Larson said the department will continue discussions with stakeholders and legislators through the interim. Senator Van Orden moved to approve the docket and the committee adopted it on a voice vote.
