HCBS QMS Updates – MFP Grant Note

On October 21, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a grant note to inform Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration grant recipients about updates to the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Quality Measure Set (QMS) reporting requirements for the MFP demonstration program.

Specifically, the purpose of this grant note is to provide the list of mandatory experience of care survey measures for reporting in 2026 and to provide MFP grant recipients with additional flexibility on the timing of experience of care surveys.

Of note, please see the following updates included in the attachment:

• Mandatory measures are listed (both Experience of Care survey measures and Administrative measures)
• Performance period is amended for Experience of Care survey measures, so that those who use NCI-IDD or NCI-AD may report 2024-2025 or 2025-2026 data
  • Allows staggering of surveys (for example, a state may wish to implement NCI-IDD in 2024-2025, and NCI- AD in 2025-2026 or vice versa)
• Clarification on allowable costs for MFP funding to support implementation and use of HCBS QMS

Note: States are now beginning to understand the scope of these expectations.  CMS has indicated that MFP Grantee states may submit additional supplemental budget requests as needed as this fuller understanding might reveal additional needs for financing.

Please email Dorothy (dhiersteiner@hsri.org) if you have questions or want to discuss further.