Ending service facilitation and paying the employer fiscal-agent to perform that work will eliminate the the only half-way advocate disabled individuals have in the whole system. I assume this is an effort by DMAS to run everyone through algorithms and AI to reduce hours and avoid accountability. There is no indication that employer fiscal-agents are equipped to serve this role. Eliminating a human assessment from a person who is not beholden to the Commonwealth and DMAS will lead to worse outcomes for any one on a waiver. This is a terrible idea.

A 56 hour cap, soft or otherwise, will force people out of the community and into institutions. My 16 y.o. son (on an FIS waiver) can do nothing at all for himself. When he leaves school, he will need round-the-clock care/assistance. This rule will rip him away from his family and put him in an institution.