Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CMS contracts with New Editions to provide technical assistance and program management support to three programs: Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) technical assistance (TA), HCB Settings rule implementation, and Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR). For HCBS TA, New Editions provides technical assistance to state agencies on HCBS mechanisms, program design, service delivery systems, and self-direction services.

New Editions assists the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the national implementation of regulations, particularly in regards to ensuring that beneficiaries receiving home and community-based services (HCBS) live and work in settings that are home and community-based and are integrated into the community. In March 2014, CMS published regulations to improve Medicaid HCBS by providing increased guidance on person-centered planning and by clarifying what protections must be in place when restrictions are imposed on individual rights.

Funded under Medicaid’s Money Follows the Person (MFP) program, the New Editions contract, Housing Capacity Building Initiative for Community Living Project, was announced in June 2010 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sebelius. The Secretary lauded the project’s vision to assist older adults and those with chronic conditions find appropriate housing to live more independent lives.

Enacted by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration is part of a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to assist states (in collaboration with stakeholders) to make widespread changes to their long-term care support systems. This initiative assists states in their efforts to reduce their reliance on institutional care, all while developing community-based long-term care opportunities, and thereby enabling the elderly and people with disabilities to fully participate within their communities.

New Editions provides technical assistance to state agencies on home and community-based services (HCBS) mechanisms, program design, service delivery systems and self-direction services. Under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), New Editions specifically provides assistance to states seeking to develop or improve HCBS under a variety of channels: Sections 1915(c) and 1115 waivers and Sections 1915(i), 1915(j) or 1915(k) State Plan Amendments. Technical assistance includes: