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News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004

CMS Media Affairs
(202) 690-6145

HHS Approves Delaware Plan To Allow Individuals With Disabilities To Direct Own Care

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today approved a Delaware plan to make it easier for individuals with disabilities to remain in their own homes by giving them greater control over some of the Medicaid services they receive.

The Delaware waiver, or the Direct Community Services for Aged and Disabled Individuals, is being approved under HHS' new Independence Plus initiative, which makes it easier for consumers to retain more control of home and community-based services.

"This Delaware plan will allow people to determine for themselves who their home-based care givers will be rather than having that person selected by an agency," Secretary Thompson said. "We know satisfaction with one's caregiver is critical to the success of home-based care."

The Delaware waiver will provide services that include adult day health, respite care, equipment and supplies, care management and self-directed and managed attendant care services. The wavier will serve aged and disabled individuals aged 18-65 who without these services would require care in a nursing facility.

"Allowing persons with disabilities to engage in 'self-direction' is a high priority for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services," (CMS) said Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., administrator of CMS, the agency that oversees federal health insurance programs. "Self-direction is a proven approach to higher beneficiary satisfaction for the same or lower costs."

As former governors, President Bush and Secretary Thompson have made it a priority to make it simpler for the states to submit Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program waiver requests and to initiate new programs such as Independence Plus. Since January 2001, HHS has approved waivers and plan amendments that have expanded eligibility to more than 2.6 million people and enhanced benefits for more than 6 million people.

Additional information regarding federal support of self-direction options can be obtained at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/independenceplus.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: December 7, 2004

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