ny-PDD-41-26-00002-E: Clarifying what facilities OPWDD can designate Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

I.D. No. PDD-41-26-00002-E Filing No. 892 Filing Date: 2026-09-25 Effective Date: 2026-09-25 PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Pro- cedureAct, NOTICE is hereby given of the following action: Action taken: Amendment of Parts 619, 633, 680 and 681 of Title 14 NYCRR. Statutory authority: Mental Hygiene Law, sections 13.07, 13.09(b) and 16.00 Finding of necessity for emergency rule: Preservation of public health. Specific reasons underlying the finding of necessity: Of the approxi- mately 1.1 million people in New York State that have an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD), the Office for People With Developmen- tal Disabilities (OPWDD) is responsible for coordinating supports for ap- 12 NYS Register/October 14, 2026 proximately 130,000 people meeting established criteria. Since the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020, New York State has been in a healthcare staffing crisis. Unfortunately, these new staffing pressures only com- pounded a staffing crisis that OPWDD had already been experiencing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and is still addressing the impacts of today. Due in part to this crisis, OPWDD has also been experiencing chal- lenges finding appropriate residential opportunities for the people the agency serves. OPWDD provides a continuum of human services which includes resi- dential opportunities such as specialty hospitals, which are designed to be the provider of the most intensive care for people with I/DD and health care problems, and Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intel- lectual Disabilities (ICFs/IID), which are an optional Medicaid benefit that provide comprehensive and individualized health care and rehabilita- tion services to individuals to promote their functional status and independence. Both types of facilities provide necessary services to those who reside in them. While both specialty hospitals and ICFs/IID are held to similar standards by New York State, ICFs/IID must also comply with federal regulations, 42 CFR 483. OPWDD believes that if a specialty hospital has the ability to meet the standards for an ICF/IID set forth by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), they should have the ability to operate as one so that as many people with I/DD can receive necessary services as possible. Since OPWDD is facing a staffing crisis, which has caused other difficulties in the system, OPWDD believes that this is an opportunity to provide more services to those who need them by allowing a specialty hospital to operate as an ICF/IID if they comply with email: the requisite CMS standards. Subject: Clarifying what facilities OPWDD can designate Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. Purpose: To allow specialty hospitals to be certified as an Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. Text of emergency rule: Paragraphs 619.2(d)(3) and (6) are amended to read as follows: (3) Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals