What is the Developmental Disabilities (DD) Waiver?

The Developmental Disabilities Home and Community-Based Medicaid Waiver is often referred to as the DD Waiver. The DD Waiver provides services for children and adults in their homes and communities, not in more restrictive and expensive institutional settings. It allows children and adults with developmental disabilities to receive services in the places where they live.

Who is eligible for the DD Waiver?

To qualify for services, the person applying must have a diagnosis of mental retardation or a related condition such as autism, cerebral palsy, seizure disorder, chromosomal disorders, syndrome disorders, or inborn errors of metabolism. They must also have a developmental disability that began before the age of eighteen for mental retardation, or before the age of twenty-two for a related condition.

To demonstrate eligibility, the family will need to gather medical and educational information. There must be things the person cannot do or has difficulty with, referred to as “substantial functional limitations,” in three or more of the following areas of major life activities: self care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity for independent living, and/or economic self-sufficiency. The person applying must be a resident of New Mexico and meet New Mexico financial requirements.

In New Mexico only the income of the person with a developmental disability is considered when determining financial eligibility, not the household income. This is true even for children living with parents whose income would normally disqualify the child for Medicaid services.