No
Approved Waivers
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved waiver amendments on June 26, 2025. The waivers went into effect July 1, 2025.
Please Note: As part of discussions with CMS, the proposed Adult Day Retirement service was removed from the Comprehensive Developmental Disabilities (CDD) and Developmental Disabilities Adult Day (DDAD) waivers prior to approval. This change allowed the remainder of the amendments to be approved by CMS and proceed toward implementation on July 1, 2025. The State of Nebraska remains committed to the vision of Adult Day Retirement as a meaningful option for aging individuals with developmental disabilities, who deserve the same opportunity to retire with dignity as all people. Following implementation of the current amendments, the State will continue working with the Developmental Disabilities Advisory Committee, additional stakeholders, and CMS to explore ways to align this service with federal expectations and best support the needs of participants. Although implementation is not possible at this time, Nebraska remains committed to advancing innovative, person-centered services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Waiver Submission
On March 19, 2025, the HCBS Waivers with public comment periods below were submitted to CMS:
Second Public Comment Period for Amendments to DD Waivers
The 30-day public comment period was from February 13, 2025 through March 15, 2025.
Documents
Presentation
Additional Information - the Objective Assessment Process
DDD understands that there are questions about the objective assessment process. DDD held three presentations for stakeholders to learn more about the new interRAI assessment tool that the Division is adopting in the DD side of our work. This company offers many different assessments for various populations, and we already use two of the interRAI tools in our Aged & Disabled and Traumatic Brain Injury Waivers.
Myers & Stauffer guided a conversation and review of the interRAI tools for DD during these stakeholder meetings. Eventually these will become the tools used by the Division to determine budgets, level of care and as a needs assessment. Adopting these new tools will assist us in our new approach to eliminating the DD Waitlist.
This information is also on the Eliminating the DD Waitlist webpage.
First Public Comment Period for Amendments to CDD, DDAD, FSW, and AD Waivers
The 30-day public comment period was from January 13, 2025 through February 13, 2025.
Presentation
There were five virtual presentations of the proposed changes. The same information was presented each time.
Documents
Next Steps
Significant changes were made to the DD Waivers as a result of the public comment period. These changes will be out for a second public comment period.
The AD Waiver was not included in the second public comment period.
Past Public Comment Period for Amendments to DD Waivers
The 30-day public comment period was from September 11, 2024, through October 11, 2024.
Presentation
Submission
Approved Waivers
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved waiver amendments on December 19, 2024. The waivers went into effect January 1, 2025.