Hawaii provider enrollment
What Hawaii requires before you can deliver home and community-based waiver services, in the order the state actually requires it. Every claim links to the official page it came from.
Provider rules change often — confirm fees and deadlines against the linked sources before you rely on them.
Hawaii accepts provider applications year-round, which makes it easier to start than the window-gated states — and harder to finish, because approval arrives in three separate pieces and you are barred from providing any service until all three exist. You need a signed Medicaid Provider Agreement with Med-QUEST, an approval letter from Med-QUEST, and an Employee Validation Approval Letter from DDD. Budget for the sequence rather than the paperwork: DDD takes up to 90 days to tell you whether it will even recommend you, and only then do you pay the $500 Medicaid application fee and begin MQD's side of the process. One more thing to plan around before you apply — once approved, DDD expects you to have capacity to serve the geographic area for every service it authorizes on your rate sheets. Applying for a service you cannot staff across its area is a commitment, not an option.
Reviews the Medicaid I/DD Waiver Proposal Application against the Waiver Standards and recommends approved applicants to Med-QUEST. Also issues the Employee Validation Approval Letter.
808-733-2135Visit siteReceives applications by mail at 3627 Kilauea Avenue, Room 411, Honolulu, HI 96816, and answers prospective-provider questions.
808-733-2135Visit siteThe Medicaid agency. Signs the Medicaid Provider Agreement and issues the approval letter — a DDD recommendation alone does not make you a provider.
Visit siteAny individual, business, or organization may apply, and DDD states plainly that providers may be for-profit or non-profit. The corporate form is your choice rather than a qualification hurdle.
SourceNew applicants must meet the CMS HCBS Final Rule for community integration — delivering services in fully integrated community settings — before approval. Review the current Waiver Standards and the CMS guidance while you are designing the service, not after you are told no.
SourceOnce approved, a provider must have capacity to serve the geographic area for every service DDD authorizes on the rate sheets. Across an island state that is a real operational commitment — scope your application to what you can actually staff.
SourceCertificate of Liability Insurance, a Certificate of Vendor Compliance through Hawaii Compliance Express, a General Excise (GE) Tax License, and a Form W-9. Assemble these before DDD's recommendation lands so the Medicaid stage does not stall.
SourceSubmit the Medicaid I/DD Waiver Proposal Application to DDD-CRB by mail, work through a review that can include a site visit and runs up to 90 days, then — if recommended — file the DHS 1139 with a $500 fee for Med-QUEST enrollment.
Application system: DDD — I want to be a Medicaid I/DD Waiver Provider
Download it from DDD's prospective-provider page or contact the Community Resources Branch to obtain it. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis, so there is no window to wait for.
SourceDepartment of Health, CRB, 3627 Kilauea Avenue, Room 411, Honolulu, HI 96816. DDD sends an acknowledgement of receipt.
SourceDDD reviews the application on both programmatic and fiscal requirements, may request additional documentation, and may schedule a site visit to your settings. It notifies you of its findings within 90 days of submission.
SourceIf DDD recommends you, submit the Medicaid Application/Change Request Form (DHS 1139) and the fee to DDD-CRB, which forwards them to Med-QUEST. Attach the liability insurance certificate, Certificate of Vendor Compliance, GE Tax License, and W-9.
SourceYou are prohibited from providing any service until you have signed a Medicaid Provider Agreement with MQD, received an approval letter from MQD, and received an Employee Validation Approval Letter from DDD. Starting early is not a gray area here.
SourceThe fee accompanies the DHS 1139 and must be a money order or cashier's check — no personal or business checks — payable to State Director of Finance, c/o Med-QUEST Division, Health Care Services Branch, Provider Enrollment, PO Box 700190, Kapolei, HI 96709-0190. You pay it only after DDD recommends you.
SourceDDD measures applicants against the Medicaid Waiver Standards rather than a separate licensure scheme. Read the current manual for the service you intend to deliver before you write the proposal — it is what the reviewer will be holding.
SourceApproval is granted per service, and each authorized service on your rate sheets carries its own geographic capacity expectation.
SourceTraining for waiver provider staff is organized through DDD's Workforce Development Training Program, alongside provider training and public information sessions. Check it for the current curricula tied to your service type.
SourceDDD notifies applicants of its findings within 90 days of submission. Med-QUEST enrollment follows that, so plan on a materially longer runway than the DDD clock by itself suggests.
SourceMoney order or cashier's check only, payable to the State Director of Finance and submitted with the DHS 1139.
SourceIf DDD determines your application does not meet the Waiver Standards, you may submit one revised application within the fiscal year. Same review process, same 90-day clock — but that is the only second chance the year gives you.
SourceHawaii does not publish these in a form we could verify, so we have not guessed at them. Ask directly — and if an answer here would help other providers, tell us and we will add it with its source.
Ask: DDD Community Resources Branch, 808-733-2135
Ask: DDD Community Resources Branch, 808-733-2135
Ask: DDD Community Resources Branch, 808-733-2135
Ask: Med-QUEST Division, Health Care Services Branch, Provider Enrollment
The division's own step-by-step, with the mailing address, fee instructions, and the 90-day timeline.
808-733-2135Visit siteTransmittal memos, the provider portal, training sessions, and the administrative hearing process.
Visit siteThe standards DDD measures your application against.
Visit siteThe Med-QUEST enrollment form filed after DDD recommends you.
Visit siteYes. DDD accepts applications on an ongoing basis, so unlike states that recruit in windows, your start date is set by your own readiness rather than a published calendar.
Only after three things exist: a signed Medicaid Provider Agreement with Med-QUEST, an approval letter from Med-QUEST, and an Employee Validation Approval Letter from DDD. A DDD recommendation on its own is not permission to serve.
It is the Medicaid application fee, paid with the DHS 1139 after DDD recommends you — not up front. It must be a money order or cashier's check payable to the State Director of Finance; personal and business checks are rejected.
You may submit one revised application within the same fiscal year, and DDD applies the same review process and timelines to it. Treat the first submission as your main attempt rather than a draft.
You have to be able to serve the geographic area for every service DDD authorizes on your rate sheets. That is the practical reason to apply narrowly at first — each added service widens the area you are promising to cover.
Looking for the family-facing guide? Browse state waiver guides