Specialized medical equipment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities allocated in Home and Community Based Services

Abstract

Specialized medical equipment, includes both durable medical equipment—nondisposable, reusable medical equipment—and nondurable medical equipment—disposable, often one time use medical supplies. The aim of this study was to examine if, and how, states allocated specialized medical equipment for people with IDD in their Medicaid HCBS programs. To do so, we examined Medicaid HCBS 1915(c) waivers for people with IDD from across the United States. We found 55 waivers (51.40%) from 27 states (60.00%) provided 71 specialized medical equipment services to people with IDD. HCBS waivers projected spending $61 million on specialized medical equipment for 33 305 people with IDD. The average annual spending per person was $2433. In addition to helping promote community living and integration, for some people with IDD, specialized medical equipment can be life sustaining; as such, it is critical that unmet needs for specialized medical equipment not go unaddressed.