FIDA IDT Policy Revisions

The Department of Health (DOH) recently released a draft document on proposed changes to the Fully Integrated Duals Advantage (FIDA) Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) policy. This policy spells out the requirements for the IDT process, which is to be administered by the managed care FIDA plans and is analogous to the care planning process in the nursing home or home care. LeadingAge NY comments on the proposed changes are available by clicking here.

The current IDT policy is based on standards set forth by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and is part of the “three way” contract between CMS, DOH and the FIDA plans that governs how the FIDA demonstration program is administered. As currently set forth, the FIDA IDT policy creates substantial logistical challenges and hurdles for the FIDA plans to meet, which also have implications for providers and practitioners. As noted in our comments, the IDT policy may work in a more structured environment like a nursing home or Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), but is extremely difficult to manage in a large scale, community-based insurance model.

LeadingAge NY welcomes DOH's move towards greater flexibility, as found in the proposed IDT policy revisions. However, we believe the revisions do not go far enough and we offer our recommendations on additional reform of the process. For many of the proposed revisions, DOH will need to seek CMS approval.

LeadingAge NY is grateful to our PACE/Managed Long Term Care Cabinet for their guidance in developing our recommendations. FIDA is in its first year as a demonstration program in the downstate area. The plans members of our Cabinet are assessing their experience with the first year of the demonstration program, and will be seeking to make additional recommendations to DOH and CMS on how the program may be improved, including issues surrounding rate adequacy and the patient assessment process.

Contact: Patrick Cucinelli, pcucinelli@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8827