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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 31, 2012
  CONTACT:
Melanie Mowry Etters
Communications Director
(850) 488-4257

APD to Implement iBudget Formula

Tallahassee - The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) is announcing that it will implement the final component of the iBudget Florida program for its customers in Northwest Florida and the Big Bend area by April 1.

iBudget Florida is a new way to deliver Medicaid waiver services that has been approved by both the Florida Legislature and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It provides Floridians with developmental disabilities in the Medicaid waiver program more flexibility in choosing their services.

The April 1 transition will include APD customers living in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Calhoun, Jackson, Washington, Holmes, Franklin, Leon, Wakulla, Gadsden, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, and Jefferson counties, which comprise APD's areas 1 and 2.

APD customers in areas 1 and 2 have been using the iBudget Florida program since October 2011. Customers in other areas of the state will be enrolled into the program later this year. An enrollment schedule will be announced soon.

iBudget Florida is designed to make the funding process fair and equitable for all Medicaid waiver customers. Waiver support coordinators will assist customers and their families in managing service approvals and other aspects of the program using an online Web-based system.

APD annually serves more than 50,000 Floridians with the developmental disabilities of autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities, spina bifida, and Prader-Willi syndrome. For more information on this program and the agency, visit iBudgetFlorida.org and APDcares.org or call toll-free 1-866-APD-CARES (1-866-273-2273).