The Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) administers the Community Pathways waiver on behalf of Maryland Medicaid. A waiver from the federal Centers on Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) allows states to waive or bend the usual rules to allow Medicaid and other services to be delivered in a different place, to people with different needs, or different income levels. CMS administers several different waiver programs that states use to fund community supports. States apply for a waiver and put in matching dollars according to a formula based on each state’s population and income.
In Maryland, the DDA and the state’s Medicaid office applied to CMS for a home and community-based services (HCBS) waiver. For people who are eligible, this kind of waiver provides services in the community as an alternative to receiving them in an institution. The home and community-based services waiver that DDA provides is called the Community Pathways Waiver.