Section 1915(b) Waiver: NC MH/IDD/SAS Health Plan (07/01/2019) identifies Medicaid 1915(b) services offered by Vaya. We also offer alternative medically appropriate, cost-effective services or settings as substitutes for some services or settings covered under this plan. Refer to the following links for service definitions and requirements:

• NC Medicaid Clinical Coverage Policies
• Acute and Subacute Services Provided in an Institute for Mental Disease (in lieu of) 
• Critical Time Intervention (in lieu of)
• Enhanced Therapeutic Foster Care (in lieu of)
• Family Centered Treatment  (in lieu of)
• High Fidelity Wraparound (in lieu of)
• Long-Term Community Supports (in lieu of)
• Outpatient Plus (in lieu of)
• Transitional Youth Services (in lieu of)

Vaya spends all Medicaid service dollars on services you deliver to our members. We do this by utilizing savings we achieve from efficient management of the 1915(b)/(c) Waiver to offer Medicaid (b)(3) services. Unlike regular Medicaid, (b)(3) services are not an entitlement, meaning they can only be reimbursed if service funding is available. Denials based on lack of funding may not be appealed. Current available (b)(3) services are:

• Community Guide (11/16/2016)
• Developmental Therapy (10/12/2017)
• Individual Support (10/12/2017)
• One-Time Transitional Costs (11/16/2016)
• Physician Consultation (11/16/2016)
• Respite(11/15/2017)
• Supported Employment (11/16/2016)

N.C. Innovations is a 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waiver for individuals with an IDD who would otherwise meet the intermediate care facility level of care. The 1915(c) N.C. Innovations Waiver allows individuals with an IDD, or a related qualifying condition, to receive services and supports in their own community and live as independently as possible.

Vaya’s Innovations benefit package includes all services required by the 1915(c) N.C. Innovations Waiver and NC Medicaid Clinical Coverage Policy No. 8-P.

NC Medicaid provides additional guidance for us to use in making authorization decisions. Guidelines for understanding individual level of support needs are set forth in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Operational Rules.

Vaya’s Non-Medicaid Benefit Plan includes public safety net services funded with state single-stream, federal and state block grants and county funds. Vaya is committed to making sure our limited resources benefit people who need it most. 

People who meet “priority population” criteria based on screening, triage and referral information are first in line to receive these funds. Priority populations are groups of people with the most severe types of mental illness, severe emotional disturbances and substance use disorders with key complicating life circumstances, conditions and/or situations.

Non-Medicaid services are not an entitlement. Vaya can only fund services under this benefit plan within the limited resources allocated to us. 

• DMH/DD/SA Non-Medicaid-Funded Enhanced Service Definitions (12/15/2019)
• Non-Medicaid-Funded MH/DD/SA Service Definitions (07/01/2017)
• Non-Medicaid-Funded ACT Policy (12/01/2015)
• Non-Medicaid–Funded Facility-Based Crisis – Child (01/01/2016)
• Non-Medicaid-Funded Inpatient Behavioral Health Services (12/15/2019)
• Non-Medicaid-Funded Individual Placement and Support (IPS) (01/07/2019)
• Non-Medicaid-Funded Developmental Therapy Service (07/01/2016)
  
  

Transitions to Community Living (TCLI) population non-Medicaid Services

Services specific to the TCLI population identified in the 2012 settlement agreement between the state of North Carolina and the U.S. Department of Justice include:

• Non-Medicaid-Funded Transition Management Services (06/03/2016)
• Non-Medicaid-Funded Critical Time Intervention (07/01/2016)
  
  

NC START Child services

Children between age 5 and 20 who live in Vaya’s catchment area and who have documented diagnoses of an IDD and a mental health and/or substance use disability may be referred to the NC START Child program. NC START provides community-based crisis intervention and prevention services to children and their families.  Services include:

• Consultation, education and training on crisis intervention
• Collaboration with providers, care coordinators, mobile crisis management (MCM), hospitals and state facilities
• Crisis intervention planning, linkages and outreach, including the development of a Cross-Systems Crisis and Intervention Plan
• Expertise on dual-diagnosed individuals
• Crisis response
• START coordination

Children who are eligible for NC START Child services must be referred through a Complex Care Management referral.