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Revision 13-0; Effective September 3, 2013
40 Texas Administrative Code, Section 55.27.
An HDM provider or subcontractor performing meal delivery must monitor each meal delivery route annually to verify meals are delivered within the required time frames. Documentation of monitoring must include the route name/number, the date of the monitoring, and the times of the first and last meal deliveries.
A DADS HDM provider is required to document, for each meal delivery site, a record of the hot and cold foods served on the last meal delivery day of the last month of the review period. Documentation is to include the date and time each hot or cold food item was removed from temperature control and the temperature of the item when removed from temperature control. Temperature readings are not required on a test meal at the end of the route. However, all meals must be delivered within four hours of removal from temperature control.
When meals for more than one day of service are delivered and the individual becomes ineligible for the HDM program, meals delivered to be consumed past the date of the individual's ineligibility are considered invalid and are not reimbursable.
4310 Waiver Request
Revision 13-0; Effective September 3, 2013
40 Texas Administrative Code, Section 55.5(c)(1).
40 Texas Administrative Code, Section 55.21.
40 Texas Administrative Code, Section 55.27.
Provider agencies must submit a waiver request to the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) contract manager during the rate negotiation process if it determines that delivery of frozen or shelf-stable meals is required for certain individuals within its contracted service area. Any waivers granted will be effective for a period not to exceed one fiscal year. The provider agency must not exceed the parameters of the waiver description or implement the waiver of the requirement for delivery of a hot meal five days a week, for delivery of multiple meals fewer than five days per week, or to deliver meals during hours other than the delivery window, prior to the DADS contract manager giving approval of the waiver request.
Effective in each new federal fiscal year (FFY), a provider agency must complete a waiver request during the budget-based rate negotiation process for each service area in which the provider agency has a contract and is planning to implement or continue a waiver. The provider agency submits the completed form to the DADS contract manager with each FFY's budget-based rate negotiation documents.
DADS will consider for approval a waiver only if the provider agency assures it will:
- deliver multiple meals to an individual at least one day per week;
- make contact with the individual at least three days per week, including the day of meal delivery;
- provide continuity of daily hot meal service to an individual who cannot use a frozen or shelf-stable meal;
- notify DADS of a significant change of condition of an individual, as required by rule;
- handle alternate meals safely (e.g., frozen, chilled or shelf-stable);
- provide safe and sanitary storage, thawing and preparation capacity; and
- comply with rules in Texas Administrative Code Section 55.27 regarding temperature control, marking of meals and time in transit.
If approved, DADS incorporates the waiver description for the current FFY into the provider agency contract with the budget amendment for the period. The contract manager will review a provider agency's compliance with the provisions of the waiver as a component of DADS on-site monitoring of the provider agency's program. The DADS contract manager considers whether the waiver reduced the provider agency's HDM operating costs for purposes of the next budget negotiation.
The provider agency may not implement provisions of the proposed waiver description without DADS approval and may not exceed the parameters of the approved waiver description. The provider agency must obtain a new budget waiver to change delivery frequency or meal format after execution of the amendment.
The approval is made during the budget-based rate negotiation process. See 5230, Budget-Based Rate Negotiation, for additional information on budget-based rate negotiation.
Form 2101, Authorization for Community Care Services, to authorize fewer than five hot meals a week for an individual. See 4310, Waiver Request, and 5230, Budget-Based Rate Negotiation, for information about when a waiver request is needed.