Aging and Disability Services Council Sharon Swift Butterworth ...

equested services will be denied or reduced. The new rules also provide that the current limits
for adaptive aids, dental treatment, minor home modifications, and respite remain in place even
if DADS grants an exception to the new, lower service limits. Regarding the requirement to
reduce requisition fees, the amendments eliminate the process by which a CMA obtains
authorization for payment to a DSA of specifications for adaptive aids and minor home
modifications and also deletes references to a requisition fee for adaptive aids and minor home
modifications.
The purpose of the proposed rules is to include the current service limit for transition assistance
services and to reflect DADS current practice that any services requested above that limit will be
denied. The proposed rules also clarify DADS current practice of reviewing an individual plan of
care (IPC) to determine if an adaptive aid or minor home modification is requested in accordance
with the requirements in Subchapter F of this chapter, regarding the processes to obtain an
adaptive aid and minor home modification. Because the proposed rules eliminate payment for
specifications, the proposed rules restructure the process to obtain an adaptive aid or minor home
modification so that a CMA is no longer required to obtain authorization for payment to the DSA
for specifications.
In addition, the proposed rules enact current policy regarding the provision of respite to an
individual who has a service provider of habilitation, support family services, or continued
family services or has an employee in the consumer directed services (CDS) option of
habilitation. The current policy is set forth, in part, in Information Letter No. 11-17, dated June 8,
2011.
The proposed rules remove nutritional services as a specialized therapy and make it a separate
service because nutritional services now has a billing service code that is separate from the
billing service code for the other services that comprise specialized therapies and because it is
not subject to a service limit like the other specialized therapy services.
The proposed rules eliminate the requirement that CMA and DSA staff persons complete DADS
computer-based training, available on DADS website, and instead require that staff complete
training currently described in the CLASS Provider Manual. This change is made because DADS
does not have computer-based training for this purpose.
Further, the proposed rules remove duplicative language, clarify language, and update crossreferences
to rule citations.
SECTION-BY-SECTION SUMMARY
The proposed amendment to §45.103 revises the definition of "respite," removes "nutritional
services" from the definition of "specialized therapies" and updates a rule citation.
The proposed amendment to §45.104 removes "nutritional services" from the list of services that
comprise specialized therapies and lists it as a separate service.
The proposed amendment to §45.212 clarifies that DADS reviews an IPC to determine if an
- 2 -