HHSC Updates the State’s Spending Plan under Section 9817 of the American Rescue Plan Act

All providers delivering community-based attendant care are now included in HHSC’s proposed fee schedule.

Background

Section 9817 of 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides states with a temporary 10 percentage point increase to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), if certain federal requirements are met.

HHSC submitted an initial spending plan to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 12, 2021 and received conditional approval from CMS in Jan. 2022 and approval from state budget authorities in March 2022.

Non-HCBS Community-based Attendants Added to Spending Plan

At a rate hearing held on April 11, 2022, it came to HHSC’s attention that a portion of providers delivering non-HCBS community-based attendant care were not included in the proposed fee-schedule.

HHSC worked with CMS to identify additional funding available through Section 9817 of ARPA the state had not claimed. This new funding does not impact the amounts previously allocated for other services. HHSC is working to implement necessary changes to ensure these funds are distributed for services delivered between March 1, 2022 and Aug. 31, 2022.

View the full updated spending plan here.

Stay Up to Date

HHSC will host a webinar to discuss the updates to the state’s spending plan and timeline for implementation of major activities in the plan later this month. A GovDelivery notice will be sent announcing the dates and registration for this webinar this month.