HCBS Lifespan Waiver

Announcing a Lifespan State Tour in July 2026!

Maine State Lifespan Tour Summer 2026Please join the Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS) and the Office of MaineCare Services (OMS) during the week of July 20 to 24 as we offer five days of in-person presentations with discussion on the proposed Lifespan Waiver.  The presentations will be held in five different Maine cities with sessions geared toward Providers in the morning and Individuals with IDD/Autism and their families in the afternoon.

Initial enrollment in the Lifespan Waiver is open to youth ages 14–17 and adults who are not already enrolled in the Section 21 or Section 29 waivers.  Therefore, we particularly encourage attendance by these individuals and their families.

We will begin each session with a brief high-level review of the Lifespan design and updates based on feedback from the comment period that ended in May 2026.

In-Person Meetings:

OADS is offering a series of in-person events across the state with Providers, Individuals with IDD/Autism and their Families, and other interested parties such as:

  • Those on the waitlists for Sections 21 or 29
  • Families of youth and young adults, ages 14-21, who anticipate applying for adult MaineCare IDD/Autism services
  • Self-Advocates, advocates, and advocacy groups
  • Current waiver participants and families
  • Legislators interested in the progress of Lifespan
  • General Public

Providers should plan to attend the location of their choice in the morning from 9:00 to noon.  The time slot for Individuals with IDD/Autism and Families will be from 1:30 to 3:30 at each location. The meeting spaces have a person limit, so we need to know how many people to expect.  Please click the link below to register and indicate which session you will be able to attend and how many people will be in your party.  Meeting locations may change based on the level of interest and anticipated attendance for each session. If that happens, we will notify registrants.

For assistance with registration, please contact Jennifer.Tankersley@maine.gov.

Here is the Schedule for the week:

  • July 20 - Bangor
  • July 21 - Caribou
  • July 22 - Augusta
  • July 23 - Lewiston
  • July 24 - Portland

For those unable to attend an in-person event, the Friday sessions will be broadcast via Zoom.  Participation will be limited due to viewing only.  Use the Registration link below to indicate your interest in a virtual session.

Click here to register for one of these events!

 

A Path for Me logo showing a drawing of two mountain peaksThe DHHS Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS), the Office of Behavioral Health's Children's Behavioral Health Services, and the Office of MaineCare Services (OMS), are working together on an exciting new waiver. We are  developing a new Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) option to support Maine people living with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and/or Autism to meet their changing needs as they transition through various stages of life.

The goals of the waiver include assisting individuals with IDD and/or Autism and their families in ways that:

  • Offer more flexibility to address goals and needs that naturally change across the lifespan.
  • Improve transition and in-home support services to support a successful transition from childhood to adulthood.
  • Use new ideas that work to support access to innovative services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

Project Milestones

This page will be the central hub for information about the HCBS Lifespan project, including interested party engagement forums and other ways to be involved in the project’s development.

Next Steps:

  • Submission and review by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
  • Public Informational Lifespan Tour (Summer 2026)
  • Waiver approval by CMS

Lifespan Waiver Overview Webinar (5/8/2026)

Lifespan Comment Period (now closed)

Lifespan Reimbursement Rates 

A rate study that has been underway since fall 2023 was released at a public hearing on April 14, 2025. For more information on the hearing, the rate structure, a recording of that hearing, rates comments and the posting of final rates, follow these instructions:

  1. Visit the MaineCare Rate System Reform page.
  2. Click the dropdown for the section “CY 2024 Rate Determination – Completed”. 
  3. Scroll to the table with the header:  18, 20, 21, 29, HCBS for Individuals with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities or Autism & New Lifespan Waiver.

January 2026 Lifespan Sessions:

More About the Focus on Youth in Transition, Ages 14-21

We have consistently received feedback that youth and their families need assistance navigating from high school transition services to adult services provided by OADS.

For more information, please visit the Transition Planning webpage.

A Path for ME SIS-A™ Assessment and Person-Centered Planning

Closely linked to the Lifespan project is the implementation of a new needs assessment for Maine people living with IDD and Autism. This is expected to provide high-quality, reliable, and consistent information about the support needs of waiver members and those on the waitlist. This information will help shape how the Lifespan project is designed, along with a primary focus on identifying the strengths of individuals with IDD, their families, and their communities. This will be done through strengths-based Person-Centered Planning, which will focus on helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities achieve the lives they want and be valued members of their communities.

Learn more about A Path for ME SIS-A™ Assessment

Learn more about the new approach to strengths-based Person-Centered Planning

Contact Us

Please send us your questions, comments, or feedback to: OADS.LifespanProject@maine.gov

Archive

click here for archived project details (PDF)