DHS Releases Bulletin on Add-On Payments for Customized Living

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Jeff Bostic

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) this week released a bulletin that describes the process for providing add-on payments to customized living providers who have confirmed cases of COVID-19 involving residents or staff. 

Enrolled customized living providers, in either the Elderly or Disability waiver programs, are eligible receive an add-on to their rate of 50% for 45 days starting with the date of a COVID-19 exposure confirmed by the Minnesota Department of Health.  The add-on will be paid both by DHS (fee-for-service clients) and health plans (managed care clients).

Providers who are eligible to receive the add-on will be required to submit an attestation (appendix A of the bulletin) to DHS in order to receive payment. Providers who return the attestation are agreeing that they will use the add-on payments to pay for COVID-19 related costs such as:

• Additional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Additional staff time to adjust service delivery to implement recommended or mandated public health practices (e.g. social distancing, screening staff or visitors for health concerns)
• Implementation of infection control procedures, such as additional facility cleaning and disinfecting
• Paid sick leave for staff, replacement staff or overtime pay

Providers who receive payments through this program will need to track the amounts they receive and be prepared to show that they used them for the specified types of costs.

At this point, DHS is only allowing one 45-day period per provider for exposures that occur through June 30 but indicated an openness to continuing the program if COVID-19 cases continue to be a problem after that date.