New York State Nursing Home Transition and Diversion Waiver RFA 

The New York State Department of Health (DOH) has applied for a Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Medicaid waiver to provide services for individuals with disabilities, eighteen years and older, who would otherwise be cared for in a nursing facility and who, considered as an aggregate group, can be served at less cost in a community setting.

The purpose of this Request for Application (RFA) is to identify and contract with qualified not-for-profit agencies to be Regional Resource Development Centers (RRDC)1 to administer the waiver and Quality Assurance Specialists (QMS) to assist DOH, RRDCs and service providers in regions which will collectively serve the entire State. The initial contracts, conditional upon waiver approval by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), are anticipated to be for a multi-year period beginning July 1, 2006 and ending September 30, 2009 dependent upon continued funding availability and satisfactory contractor performance.

The Department is interested in developing RRDC capacity to assure that the waiver program can be fully operational upon receipt of the necessary federal approval. Specifically, it is imperative to contract with qualified agencies to identify appropriate candidates for participation in the waiver, develop sufficient provider capacity, as well as, meet all necessary federal assurances and maintain a quality program.

Letters of intent were due March 8, 2006, and applications are due April 10, 2006.