[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60050-60051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24986]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Medicaid Program: Money Follows the Person Rebalancing
Demonstration Program
AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice creates an expansion to an existing award under
the Money Follows the Person
[[Page 60051]]
Demonstration grant. The program supports the movement of Medicaid
beneficiaries with disabling and chronic conditions from institutions
into the community. The award expands already funded tasks related to
quality technical assistance provided to State grantees.
DATES: Effective Date: The program expansion is effective on the date
of award (before September 30, 2011 through April 15, 2013).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Anita Yuskauskas, (410) 786-0268.
Arun Natarajan, (410) 786-7455.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The need for additional funds is the result of an increase in the
number of Money Follows the Person (MFP) State Grantees through the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act) (Pub.
L. 111-148, enacted on March 23, 2010). Fifteen additional States
received new MFP funds in January, 2011 under the Affordable Care Act.
The increase in the number of States and programs resulting from the
Affordable Care Act place more demand on the need for technical
assistance to States developing and implementing quality improvement
strategies, particularly given the complexity and vulnerability of the
populations being served in MFP and the Congress' commitment to the
Grant Program's success. The expansion was not calculated in the
original National Quality Enterprise (NQE) budget because at the time
of the original award, the Affordable Care Act money was not included
in CMS' budget allocation.
The additional resources are necessary to assure the success of the
individual placements, specifically, by facilitating sufficient quality
mechanisms to address the unique needs of the populations with
disabling and chronic conditions. These are the most vulnerable
populations and a lack of quality and oversight mechanisms in place,
may place individuals at risk.
II. Provisions of the Notice
We solicited a proposal from Thomson Reuters Healthcare to expand
the National Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Quality
Enterprise beyond the grant's present scope. The expansion was created
by section 2403 of the Affordable Care Act, which amended section 6071
of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the Money Follows the Person
Rebalancing Demonstration. The provision expanded previous legislation
to support State and CMS efforts to improve quality in a ``rebalanced''
long-term support system, and to demonstrate the ongoing benefits from
and need for an effective HCBS QI Enterprise. The grant offered $1.2
million over 2 years through a program expansion supplement.
We requested that the Thomson Reuters Healthcare submit an
abbreviated application addressing the expansion of the existing grant.
The Grantee provided an updated quality technical assistance model and
work plan focused on the following four major goals:
Development of a process demonstrating consistency between
the Grantee and CMS, and across all Grantee staff and subcontractors
for providing technical assistance (Project Management, 1.1).
The provision of technical assistance to states related to
quality in home and community-based services programs (Technical
Assistance, 2.1b).
The provision of technical assistance to CMS staff related
to the oversight of quality in HCBS programs (Technical Assistance,
2.1c).
The ongoing development and maintenance of a national HCBS
quality web-based technical assistance site and quality TA manuscripts
(Technical Assistance, 2.1d and e).
As part of the application, based on the four major goals listed
above, the Grantee submitted a 3 page project narrative describing the
activities, and an accompanying budget revision, related to Grant
1LICMS030329/01, entitled ``The National HCBS Quality
Enterprise: Assisting States to Achieve Enhanced Quality in a
Rebalanced Environment''.
The documents included the following:
Cover Letter--The letter included the current project
director's name and a brief summary of the proposed project, submitted
and signed by the authorized representative for this grant.
SF-424a (Budget Information--Non Construction Programs)--
The applicant provided the total costs for the remainder of the project
for $1.2 million, with a break out of those costs in Section B ``Budget
Categories'' of the SF-424a form. The costs proposed were for the
additional costs only (not the cumulative total costs of the entire
grant).
Detailed Budget Narrative--The applicant provided a
detailed breakdown of the aggregate numbers for the budget recorded on
the Standard Form 424a ``Budget Information--Non Constructions
Programs,'' including allocations for each major set of activities or
proposed tasks. The proposed budget justification clearly described
each cost element in the related budget category.
Project Narrative--The project narrative (approximately 3
pages in length) provided a concise and complete description of the
proposed project. It contained the information necessary for CMS to
fully understand the additional work of the project. It covered all
aspects of the project requirements (see criteria for writing the
project narrative--four major goals).
Authority: Section 6071 Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.
Dated: September 20, 2011.
Daniel F. Kane,
Chief Grants Management Officer, Office of Acquisition and Grants
Management, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
[FR Doc. 2011-24986 Filed 9-27-11; 8:45 am]
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