FSSA increases monthly Medicaid waiver waitlist invitations. Some Hoosiers will still wait months

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration announced it will almost double the number of people it processes off of waitlists for home- and community-based services. But that means a majority of people waiting for slots will still have to wait for months.

The Pathways and Health and Wellness Medicaid Waivers provide services to eligible medically complex Hoosiers. More than 13-thousand people are on a waitlist for those services. In July, FSSA said it would process about 900 people per month.

Starting this month, the agency said it will increase that number to 1,700 — including 1,200 off the Pathways Waiver waitlist and the rest from the Health and Wellness waitlist.

That means it will take some members almost seven and a half months to move off the Pathways Waiver waitlist and more than nine months for the Health and Wellness waitlist. However, the number of people on the waitlist may grow as new people join.

In July, FSSA said there were about 10,500 open slots available for the Pathways Waiver. It also said there were less than 3,000 open slots available for the Health and Wellness Waiver. The agency’s waitlist dashboard lists how many invitations it has sent so far, but it does not explain how many slots are still open.

FSSA said this is not an increase in the number of available slots for services under each waiver. The total number of slots available for both programs combined is 55,000 as of July 2024. Once a slot is used, it is considered used for the entire year — meaning those who don’t receive a spot this year will likely have to wait until July 2025 or later.

READ MORE: Indiana family tries to navigate Medicaid waivers as FSSA slowly processes waitlist
 

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FSSA said it cannot give people an estimated wait time because it depends on how many people are part of a priority category each month. Those who get “priority status” are individuals who are discharged from the hospital, transition from a nursing facility or transition from the CHOICE program.

The agency reiterated there is no waiting list for the Pathways for Aging program, which is not the same thing as the Pathways waiver.

FSSA also said it will increase the number of monthly invitations sent to individuals on the Family Support Waiver waitlist.

Abigail is our health reporter. Contact them at aruhman@wboi.org.