Opinion ID: 216365
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: FACTS.The Mi Via Waiver Program

Text: The Mi Via Waiver program provides self-directed home and community-based services to eligible [Home and Community Based Services] waiver recipients who are disabled or elderly (D & E), developmentally disabled (DD), medically fragile (MF), those diagnosed with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and those diagnosed with certain brain-injuries (BI). NMAC § 8.314.6.9 (2006). The program is designed to provide a home and community-based alternative to institutional care that facilitates greater participant choice, direction and control over services and supports that are identified in the participant's individualized service and support plan (SSP), purchased within an agreed upon individual budgetary allotment (IBA), and delivered by service providers or vendors chosen by the participant. Id. For a participant with no prior waiver cost experience, his or her IBA is calculated based on algorithms developed by the state for recipients of the same waiver population. . . with similar characteristics as the [M]i [V]ia participant. NMAC § 8.314.6.17(B)(2) (2006). The Mi Via Waiver program provides an IBA of $59,449 for developmentally disabled participants over the age of 21 who require residential support services; for those who do not require residential support services, the IBA is $34,553. A participant's budget allotment can be increased above the IBA if the participant shows that he or she has a chronic physical condition, a change in physical health status, chronic or intermittent behavioral conditions or cognitive difficulties, or a change in natural supports. R., Vol. 2 at 429-33 (Mi Via Service Standards).