New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter 314 - LONG TERM CARE SERVICES - WAIVERS
Part 3 - MEDICALLY FRAGILE HOME AND COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES WAIVER SERVICES
Section 8.314.3.13 - COVERED WAIVER SERVICES

Universal Citation: 8 NM Admin Code 8.314.3.13

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024

The services covered by the MFW program are intended to provide a home and community-based alternative to institutional care for an eligible recipient. In all services covered under the MFW the recipient has the right to privacy, dignity, and respect. The recipient further has the right to freedom from coercion and restraint. The MFW program covers the following services for a specified number of medically fragile recipients. The program is limited by the number of federally authorized unduplicated recipient (UDR) positions and program funding.

A. Case management services: Case management services assist recipients in gaining access to needed waiver and other state plan services, as well as medical, social, educational, and other services regardless of the funding source for the services. Case management services are offered in a manner that allows direct communication between the case manager, the recipient, and the family and appropriate service personnel. Case managers provide a link between recipients and care providers and coordinate the use of community resources needed for that care. At least every other month, the case manager conducts a face-to-face contact with the recipient, and on a monthly basis conducts a telephonic or electronic contact with the recipient. The scope of the case manager's duties includes the following:

(1) identifying medical, social, educational, family and community support resources;

(2) scheduling and coordinating timely interdisciplinary team (IDT) meetings to develop and modify the ISP annually and as needed by any team member;

(3) documenting contacts with the recipient and providers responsible for delivery of services to the recipient;

(4) verifying eligibility on an annual basis;

(5) ensuring the medically fragile long-term care assessment abstract (LTCAA) is completed and signed by the physician, physician assistant or clinical nurse practitioner (CNP);

(6) submitting the LOC packet including the LTCAA to the third-party assessor (TPA) contractor for prior authorization on a timely basis;

(7) ensuring the waiver review form (MAD 046) is submitted timely, both annually and as needed;

(8) initiating an ongoing monitoring process that provides for evaluation of delivery, effectiveness, appropriateness of services and support provided to the recipient as identified in the ISP;

(9) performing an annual recipient satisfaction survey; and

(10) coordinating services provided though the MFW program and other sources (state plan, family infant toddler (FIT), commercial insurance, educational and community).

B. Home health aide: Home health aide services are covered under the state plan as expanded early and periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment EPSDT benefits for waiver participants under the age of 21. Home health aide services are provided in the eligible recipient's own home or in the community. Home health aide services provide total care or assist a recipient in all activities of daily living. Total care is defined as: the provision of bathing (bed, sponge, tub, or shower), shampooing (sink, tub, or bed), care of nails and skin, oral hygiene, toileting and elimination, safe transfer techniques and ambulation, normal range of motion and positioning, adequate oral nutrition and fluid intake. The home health aide services assist the recipient in a manner that promotes an improved quality of life and a safe environment for the recipient. Home health aide services can be provided outside the recipient's home. Home health aides perform simple procedures such as an extension of therapy services, bowel and bladder care, ostomy site care, personal care, ambulation and exercise, household services essential to health care at home, assistance with medications that are normally self-administered, reporting changes in patient conditions and needs, and completing appropriate records. Home health aides may provide basic non-invasive nursing assistant skills within the scope of their practice.

C. Private duty nursing: Private duty nursing services are covered under the state plan as expanded EPSDT benefits for waiver recipients under the age of 21. Private duty nursing services are provided in the eligible recipient's own home and in the community and include activities, procedures and treatment for a physical condition, physical illness, or chronic disability. Services may include medication management; administration and teaching; aspiration precautions; feeding management such as gastrostomy and jejunostomy; skin care; weight management; urinary catheter management; bowel and bladder care; wound care; health education; health screening; infection control; environmental management for safety; nutrition management; oxygen management; seizure management and precautions; anxiety reduction; staff supervision; and behavior and self-care assistance. DOH requires certain standards to be maintained by the private duty nursing care provider with which it contracts. In carrying out their role for DOH, private duty nursing care agencies must:

(1) employ only RNs and LPNs licensed in the state of New Mexico;

(2) assure that all nurses delivering services are culturally sensitive to the needs and preferences of the recipients and their families. Based upon the recipient's individual language needs or preferences, nurses may be requested to communicate in a language other than English;

(3) inform the case manager immediately of the agency's inability to staff according to the ISP;

(4) develop and implement an individual nursing plan in conjunction with the recipient's physician and case manager in a manner that identifies and fulfills the recipient's specific needs;

(5) document all assessments, observations, treatments and nursing interventions;

(6) document and report to the case manager any non-compliance with the ISP; and

(7) document any incidence of recipient harm, medication error, or other adverse event in accordance with the New Mexico Nursing Practice Act.

D. Skilled therapy services for adults: Skilled therapy services are covered under the state plan as expanded EPSDT benefits for waiver recipients under the age of 21. Adults access therapy services under the state plan for acute and temporary conditions that are expected to improve significantly in a reasonable and generally predictable period of time. Waiver services are provided when the limits of the state plan skilled therapy services are exhausted. The amount, duration, and goals of skilled therapy services must be included in an ISP. A therapy treatment plan must be developed with the initiation of therapy services and updated at least every six months. The therapy treatment plan includes the following: developmental status of the recipient in areas relevant to the service provided; treatment provided, including the frequency and duration; and recommendation for continuing services and documentation of results. Skilled maintenance therapy services specifically include the following:

(1) Physical therapy: Physical therapy services promote gross/fine motor skills, facilitate independent functioning or prevent progressive disabilities. Specific services may include: professional assessment(s), evaluation(s) and monitoring for therapeutic purposes; physical therapy treatments and interventions; training regarding physical therapy activities, use of equipment and technologies or any other aspect of the individual's physical therapy services; designing, modifying or monitoring use of related environmental modifications; designing, modifying, and monitoring use of related activities supportive to the ISP goals and objectives; and consulting or collaborating with other service providers or family members, as directed by the recipient.

(2) Occupational therapy: Occupational therapy services promote fine motor skills, coordination, sensory integration, or facilitate the use of adaptive equipment or other assistive technology. Specific services may include: teaching of daily living skills; development of perceptual motor skills and sensory integrative functioning; design, fabrication, or modification of assistive technology or adaptive devices; provision of assistive technology services; design, fabrication, or applying selected orthotic or prosthetic devices or selecting adaptive equipment; use of specifically designed crafts and exercise to enhance function; training regarding occupational therapy activities; and consulting or collaborating with other service providers or family members, as directed by the recipient.

(3) Speech language therapy: Speech language therapy services preserve abilities for independent function in communication; facilitate oral motor and swallowing function; facilitate use of assistive technology, or prevent progressive disabilities. Specific services may include: identification of communicative or oropharyngeal disorders and delays in the development of communication skills; prevention of communicative or oropharyngeal disorders and delays in the development of communication skills; development of eating or swallowing plans and monitoring their effectiveness; use of specifically designed equipment, tools, and exercises to enhance function; design, fabrication, or modification of assistive technology or adaptive devices; provision of assistive technology services; adaptation of the recipient's environment to meet his/her needs; training regarding speech language therapy activities; and consulting or collaborating with other service providers or family members, as directed by the recipient.

E. Behavior support consultation services: This medicaid waiver provides services to assist the medically fragile recipient, his or her parents, family members or primary care givers. Behavior support consultation includes assessment, treatment, evaluation and follow-up services to assist the recipient, parents, family members or primary care givers with the development of coping skills which promote or maintain the recipient in a home environment. Behavior support consultation:

(1) informs and guides the recipient's providers with the services and supports as they relate to the recipient's behavior and his/her medically fragile condition;

(2) identifies support strategies to ameliorate contributing factors with the intention of enhancing functional capacities, adding to the provider's competency to predict, prevent and respond to interfering behavior and potentially reducing interfering behavior(s);

(3) supports effective implementation based on a functional assessment;

(4) collaborates with medical and ancillary therapies to promote coherent and coordinated services addressing behavioral issues and to limit the need for psychotherapeutic medications; and

(5) monitors and adapts support strategies based on the response of the recipient and his/her service and support providers. Based on the recipient's ISP, services are delivered in an integrated/natural setting or in a clinical setting.

F. Respite care services: The IDT is responsible for determining the need for respite care. Respite services are provided to recipients unable to care for themselves that are furnished on a short-term basis to allow the primary caregiver a limited leave of absence in order to reduce stress, accommodate caregiver illness, or meet a sudden family crisis or emergency. Respite care is provided in the eligible recipient's own home, in a private residence of a respite care provider, or in a specialized foster care home. The recipient or the recipient's authorized representative has the option and gives final approval of where the respite services will be provided. Respite services include: medical and non-medical health care; personal care bathing; showering; skin care; grooming; oral hygiene; bowel and bladder care; catheter and supra-pubic catheter care; preparing or assisting in preparation of meals and eating; as appropriate, administering enteral feedings; providing home management skills; changing linens; making beds; washing dishes; shopping; errands; calls for maintenance; assisting with enhancing self-help skills; promoting use of appropriate interpersonal communication skills and language; working independently without constant supervision/observation; providing body positioning, ambulation and transfer skills; arranging for transportation to medical or therapy services; assisting in arranging health care needs and follow-up as directed by the primary care giver, physician, and case manager; ensuring the health and safety of the recipient at all times. Respite services are limited to 14 days or 336 hours per budget year.

G. Nutritional counseling: Nutritional counseling is designed to meet the unique food and nutrition requirements of recipients with medical fragility and developmental disabilities. Examples of recipients who may require nutritional counseling are children or adults with specific illnesses such as failure to thrive, gastroesophageal reflux, dysmotility of the esophagus and stomach etc., or who require specialized formulas, or receive tube feedings or parenteral nutrition. This does not include oral-motor skill development such as that provided by a speech language pathologist. Nutritional counseling services include assessment of the recipient's nutritional needs, regimen development, or revisions of the recipient's nutritional plan, counseling and nutritional intervention and observation and technical assistance related to implementation of the nutritional plan. These services advise and help recipients obtain appropriate nutritional intake by integrating information from the nutritional assessment with information on food, other sources of nutrients, and meal preparation consistent with cultural backgrounds and socioeconomic status. These services can be delivered in the home.

H. Specialized medical equipment and supplies: This medicaid waiver provides specialized medical equipment and supplies which include:

(1) devices, controls or appliances specified in the plan of care that enable recipients to increase their ability to perform activities of daily living;

(2) devices, controls, or appliances that enable the recipient to perceive, control, or communicate with the environment in which they live;

(3) items necessary for life support or to address physical conditions along with ancillary supplies and equipment necessary to the proper functioning of such items;

(4) such other durable and non-durable medical equipment not available under the state plan that is necessary to address recipient functional limitations; and

(5) necessary medical supplies not available under the state plan. Items reimbursed with waiver funds are in addition to any medical equipment and supplies furnished under the state plan and exclude those items that are not of direct medical or remedial benefit to the recipient. The costs of maintenance and upkeep of equipment are included in the cost of equipment and supplies. All items must meet applicable standards of manufacture, design, and installation. Medical equipment and supplies that are furnished by the state plan are not covered under this service. This service does not include nutritional or dietary supplements, disposable diapers, bed pads, or disposable wipes.

I. Environmental Modifications: Environmental modifications include the purchasing and installing of equipment or making physical adaptions to an eligible recipient's residence that are necessary to ensure the health, welfare and safety of the eligible recipient or enhance his or her access to the home environment and increase his or her ability to act independently.

(1) Adaptations, installations and modifications include:
(a) heating and cooling adaptations;

(b) fire safety adaptations;

(c) turnaround space adaptations;

(d) specialized accessibility, safety adaptations or additions;

(e) installation of specialized electric and plumbing systems to accommodate medical equipment and supplies;

(f) installation of trapeze and mobility tracks for home ceilings;

(g) installation of ramps;

(h) widening of doorways or hallways;

(i) modification of bathroom facilities (roll-in showers, sink, bathtub and toilet modification, water faucet controls, floor urinals and bidet adaptations and plumbing);

(j) purchase or installation of air filtering devices;

(k) purchase or installation of lifts or elevators;

(l) purchase and installation of glass substitute for windows and doors;

(m) purchase and installation of modified switches, outlets or environmental controls for home devices; and

(n) purchase and installation of alarm and alert systems or signaling devices.

(2) Excluded are those adaptations or improvements to the home that are of general utility and are not of direct medical or remedial benefit to the eligible recipient. Adaptations that add to the total square footage of the home are excluded from this benefit except when necessary to complete an adaptation (e.g., in order to improve entrance/egress to an eligible recipient's residence or to configure a bathroom to accommodate a wheelchair).

(3) Environmental modification services must be provided in accordance with applicable federal, state and local building codes.

(4) Environmental modification services are limited to $5,000 every five years. An eligible recipient transferring into the medically fragile program, from another HCBS waiver, will carry his or her history for the previous five years of HCBS reimbursed environmental modifications.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New Mexico may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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