This bill establishes a pilot program to support the redesign of the Bureau of Developmental Services (BDS) in the Department of Health and Human Services. The pilot project will be initiated no later than July 1, 2023, and will test concepts prior to a comprehensive roll-out of the redesign program. The pilot program will gather data to evaluate the impact on the beneficiary population, family and extended support services, and will address topics such as changes to the waiver system, rate and reimbursement models, system upgrades, billing and reimbursement changes, and budget and service level changes. The pilot program will conclude no later than June 30, 2024, and a report will be provided to the oversight committee outlining the impact of the changes.

The bill may have fiscal implications for the Department of Health and Human Services. The Department assumes it will need to work with a consulting firm to test the redesign concepts, which may require expanding the scope of services in the existing contract. The cost of this additional work is not specified, but the current contract with the consulting firm costs approximately $576,000 per month. Additionally, the bill may impact the Department's compliance with a federal corrective action plan, which could result in the loss of federal matching funds for waiver services. The loss of all federal matching funds could total $182 million per year.