CMS recently announced that three states have had their operational protocols approved for their Money Follows the Person (MFP) programs.  The Deficit Reduction Act authorized the federal government to spend up to $1.7 billion over a five year period for state MFP programs, and CMS approved 31 states for grants.  Under MFP, states receive an enhanced federal match for HCBS provided to Medicaid-enrolled institutional residents (e.g., nursing home residents) who have resided in an institution for not less than six months and no more than two years.  To see a list of these states, with the amounts of their grants and benchmarks, follow this link to CMS' website: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/DeficitReductionAct/Downloads/MFP_FactSheet.pdf       Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Missouri are the first three states to receive approval for their protocols. Wisconsin's program aims to transition approximately 1,300 individuals, while New Hampshire plans on transitioning close to 400 and Missouri 250.  Several other states have submitted their protocols and are waiting for word from CMS, such as Maryland, Kentucky and Texas.         

To the right are links to the approved New Hampshire protocol and the pending protocols from Maryland, Kentucky, and Texas.  Each protocol outlines, through hypothetical "case studies" found at or near the beginning of the protocols, the ideal way in which the states hopes to see individuals transitioned under their programs.  

The DRA's MFP provision included a "public process" mandate for states.  Some states apparently were quick to distribute their protocols to their MFP stakeholder groups simultaneously with, or shortly after, submission, while members of other state stakeholder groups have reportedly still not received a copy of their state's submitted protocol. 

New Hampshire's Approved Operational Protocol

Kentucky's Pending Operational Protocol

Texas' Pending Operational Protocol

Maryland's Pending Operational Protocol