July 1st, 2024
HB 4169 directed HHSC to add pre-vocational services as a service through ISS or add it as a new service/benefit to HCS, TxHmL & DBMD. In conversations with CMS last fall, HHSC was informed that the service had to be a separate service from ISS, hence HHSC is proposing the service as a new benefit.
Discussions with CMS, the Meaningful Skills Development and Employment Services subcommittee of the IDD System Redesign Advisory Committee and stakeholder feedback received in a public hearing earlier this year, the new service will be called “employment readiness”.
You can view a description of the service in the handout used during the February, 2024 Public Hearing to learn more: https://www.hhs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/documents/feb-2024-hcs-txhml-dbmd-public-hearing-agenda-item-2a.pdf
Remaining Actions related to Implementation:
-Publish rules as proposed in the Texas Register in July for formal comment.
– Seek a waiver amendment from CMS in August.
-Adopt the rules
-Implement the service in January, 2025.
