Money Follows the Person (MFP) is a federal initiative administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It is designed to assist States in rebalancing Medicaid expenditures by increasing the use of home and community-based services and reducing spending on facility-based care.
Massachusetts’ Office of Medicaid (MassHealth) received a 5 year MFP Demonstration grant in 2011. Since the awarding of the grant, Massachusetts has worked to consolidate its existing 1915(c) home and community-based waivers under the umbrella of MFP Demonstration, while also expanding access to certain Medicaid-funded services, including transitional assistance for persons leaving qualified institutional settings and returning to the community.
Massachusetts also created two new disability blind waivers as part of its MFP Demonstration – the Community Living Waiver and the Residential Supports Waiver. To be eligible for one of these new waivers, MFP participants must be seeking discharge into the community from one of the following qualified facilities: a nursing home, Institute of Mental Disease (excluding individuals age 21-64), Chronic or rehabilitation hospital, Public Health hospitals, or an ICF/MR.
Additionally, applicants must: 1) be residing in a qualified in-patient facility for 90 or more consecutive days at the time of application (excluding Medicare rehab days); 2) be a resident of Massachusetts; 3) be MassHealth-eligible, and 4) have their last day in the facility be a Medicaid-paid inpatient day.
Persons with Aquired Brain Injury (ABI) who reside in nursing or long rehabilitation facilities, and who meet these eligibility criteria, can apply for either the Community Living or Residential Supports waivers. These waivers provide a range of services and supports including service coordination, prevocational and supported employment services, day services, individual support and habilitation, peer support, home and vehicle modification, specialized medical equipment, skilled nursing, independent living supports (such as PCA services), and speech, occupational and physical therapies.
Read here for additional information about the MFP Demonstration and here for the applications.