CMS - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is the federal agency which oversees Medicaid ~ the health insurance program that regulates the New Directions Waiver.

Consumer-Directed Services - This means that you and your family or trusted supporters make the choices and decisions about your services. You design your plan, design your budget, and decide whom to hire to provide your supports.

COMAR – This stands for the Code of Maryland Annotated Regulations – a fancy title for the rules about how services, supports and safeguards are provided in Maryland.

CPR – Cardio- Pulmonary Resuscitation – a way to help a person who has stopped breathing to get air until they breath on their own again, or until a medical person can help them. Your support staff will need to be trained in this technique.

Employer of Record – This means that if you self-direct services for yourself or a family member and hire and supervise your staff you are their employer,– like having your own business. You are responsible for all of the things that go along with that, like picking staff, paying them, paying taxes, etc. The fiscal intermediary and the service broker help you, but you are the boss!

Fiscal Management Services (FMS) – this is also sometimes called a fiscal intermediary. FMS helps you and your family to manage and pay for services using the DDA approved funds in your individual budget. The FMS will help you act as the employer and handle paying your employees (including all the necessary taxes) and will handle all paperwork and need reporting to IRS, etc. FMS will also help you to understand your responsibilities as an employer of record.

Medicaid - Medicaid is a health insurance program for eligible low-income people. It is funded and administered through a state-federal partnership. Although there are broad federal requirements for Medicaid, states have a wide degree of flexibility to design their program. States have authority to: establish eligibility standards; determine what benefits and services to cover; and set payment rates.

Medication Certification Training – this is training, supervised by a nurse, that teaches support people how to give medication to individuals who are not able to take medications by themselves. Not every support person needs this training. Your Resource Coordinator or Support Broker can help you decide if your staff will need to be trained.

Organized Health Care Delivery System (OHCDS) - A public or private organization that provides heath care services to the community using its own employees (not contracted employees), and at least one Medicaid service directly.

Person Centered Planning is a tool used to help you think about your life, what is important to you and for you, and how you want to achieve the lifestyle that you would like. It’s an exercise in building relationships, community connections & resources. You choose the person who will lead your planning process and how to make the plan actually happen. Some of the tools include, but are not limited to: Essential Lifestyle Planning, MAPS or PATH.

Resource Coordinator – is provided to individuals and families eligible for services under DDA. DDA pays for resource coordinators out of the DDA administrative budget. You do not have to pay for them out of your individual budget. They are responsible to assist and provide support in developing your plan, budgets, support broker and other needed assistance, at a level that makes sense for you and your family. They are responsible for monitoring your plan to assure that you are satisfied with the outcomes, and assuring your health and safety throughout the process.

Self-determination- a philosophy that is based on basic American principles! The key parts of self-determination are Freedom, Authority, Responsibility, Support, and Confirmation.