HCBSadvocacy.org is your one-stop location for all things related to the HCBS Settings Rule.  The HCBS Settings Rule ensures that people with disabilities and older adults receiving Medicaid HCBS services have the full benefit of community life, including access to the broader community, control over their daily lives, and opportunities for employment.  This website is designed to help stakeholders learn about the Rule, keep updated on implementation in their state, and learn how to get involved in advocacy.

The HCBS Advocacy Coalition is a partnership of over 20 national disability and aging organizations that support the full inclusion of people with disabilities and older adults into society. We work with a range of federal and state policymakers, state and federal agencies, and disability stakeholders across the country to advocate for successful implementation of the HCBS Settings Rule that will result in opportunities for people with disabilities of all ages opportunities to live, work and fully participate in the broader community.

What You Should Know

ASAN’s “Easy to Read” HCBS Settings Rule Toolkit answers questions about the HCBS Settings Rule, including 1.) What is community living? 2.) What is an institution? 3.) What are home and community-based services (HCBS)? 4.) What does the HCBS Settings Rule say? 5.) What rights does the HCBS Settings Rule give me? And 6.) What rules do HCBS providers have to follow?

We’ve created this “What You Should Know” document to provide advocates with detailed information about the new rule and action steps to fully participate in its implementation.

Why Your Advocacy on the Settings Rule is Important

The HCBS Settings Rule can improve community-based services and supports for people with disabilities and the elderly for decades to come. A key requirement of the Settings Rule is that the States hear from people with disabilities and the elderly about their current services – what they like and how community services can be improved.

What’s New

Resources from the Coalition

July 14, 2020: The HCBS Advocacy Coalition released a statement regarding further delay of the Home and Community Based Settings Rule.

March 2020: The HCBS Advocacy Coalition has updated its toolkit that helps stakeholders learn more about the HCBS Settings Rule and how to advocate in your state. The toolkit contains three documents:

1. The Medicaid HCBS Settings Rule: What You Should Know!
2. The Medicaid HCBS Settings Rule: Heightened Scrutiny
3. How to Advocate for Truly Integrated Community Settings

February 19, 2020: The Community Living Policy Center at Brandeis University, with contribution from the HCBS Advocacy Coalition, held a webinar on Best Practices in the HCBS Settings Rule: Bringing HCBS to the 21st Century that covered the recently released heightened scrutiny technical paper, the ASAN toolkit and the HCBS Advocacy Coalition outcomes document.

February 2020: The Community Living Policy Center at Brandeis University, with contribution from the HCBS Advocacy Coalition, released a new policy brief “Identifying, Evaluating and Remediating “Settings That Isolate” in the Context of CMS Guidance on Heightened Scrutiny Requirements within the HCBS Settings Rule.” This brief includes an analysis and recommendations for states and stakeholders around the heightened scrutiny process.

January 2020: It is critical that state agencies and stakeholders have on-going conversations about how to measure the progress of the HCBS Settings Rule implementation. A white paper with recommended outcomes produced by national subject matter experts is now available.

November 20, 2019: “Easy to Read” HCBS Settings Rule Toolkit by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) answers questions about the HCBS Settings Rule, including 1.) What is community living? 2.) What is an institution? 3.) What are home and community-based services (HCBS)? 4.) What does the HCBS Settings Rule say? 5.) What rights does the HCBS Settings Rule give me? And 6.) What rules do HCBS providers have to follow?