Bureau of Disabilities Services (BDS)
Approves providers of BDS-administered HCBS waiver services. The BDS Director of Provider Services signs off, and applications go to BDSProviderServices@fssa.in.gov.
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Indiana provider enrollment
How to Become a Medicaid Waiver Provider in Indiana
What Indiana 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.
Overview
Becoming a waiver provider in Indiana
Indiana writes its provider approval process down as policy, and the policy is unusually punitive about mistakes. A denial — for an incomplete application submitted twice in a year, for missing the 30-day deadline on a Request for Information, for false information, or on the merits — carries a minimum two-year bar before you may apply again. Read that before anything else, because it changes how you should treat the first submission. Two clocks then run against you: your leadership team must attend the introductory session of the BDS Leadership Training Series within one year of the pending provisional approval letter, with no extension available, and Medicaid enrollment must complete within twelve months of BDS approval or BDS issues a denial. Applications are accepted any time of year, so nothing here is about timing your entry — it is about not tripping any of the four wires that reset you to zero for two years.
Who certifies you
The agencies that decide
Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services (DDRS)
The division BDS sits in. Approved providers sign a DDRS Service Provider Agreement at the end of the process.
800-545-7763Visit siteOffice of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP)
The Indiana Medicaid agency. Final BDS approval is entirely dependent on your becoming an eligible Indiana Medicaid provider.
Visit siteBefore you apply
What has to be true first
Applications are accepted year-round, electronically, as PDFs
The BDS New Provider Application may be submitted at any time during the year. It must be submitted electronically in PDF format — scanned applications are not accepted — and should arrive in a single e-mail, or in e-mails flagged in the first one and all received the same calendar date.
SourceThe application asks for references and proof of solvency
Beyond policies and procedures, you must supply two professional references — one directly related to your experience in the I/DD community — one personal reference who is not a family member, documentation of criminal history per 460 IAC 6-10-5, educational background, the counties you intend to serve, and proof of financial solvency in cash reserves or capital.
SourceYou may not borrow the state's name
Applicants must not imply a direct relationship with BDS or any other state agency. You may not include BDS, BDDS, FSSA, DDRS, or any other state agency name or acronym in your organizational identity, per Ind. Code 23-0.5-3-1(e).
SourceYour leadership team is screened for past terminations
You may not include on your leadership team anyone who served in an executive leadership capacity at a provider terminated as an HCBS waiver provider in Indiana. Executive leadership means CEO or executive director, COO, CFO, and chief program officer or equivalents.
SourceEnrollment
How to enroll in Indiana
E-mail BDS Provider Services to request the application, submit it complete and in PDF, get a provisional decision within 60 days, attend the Leadership Training Series within a year, then enroll with Indiana Medicaid within twelve months of approval.
Application system: BDS Provider Services — BDSProviderServices@fssa.in.gov
- Send an electronic inquiry to BDS Provider Services
An authorized representative may submit an inquiry at any time to BDSProviderServices@fssa.in.gov. BDS then issues the New Provider Application and instructions to you — the form is not a public download.
Source - Submit a complete application in a single e-mail
BDS confirms receipt within seven business days. Incomplete applications are not accepted and will not be reviewed — and a second incomplete application in the same calendar year is a denial carrying the two-year bar.
Source - Answer the Request for Information within 30 days if one comes
BDS may issue one RFI for clarification. You have 30 calendar days to respond; no response means denial in writing, and denial means waiting two years.
Source - Receive the provisional decision within 60 days
Complete applications get a provisional decision within 60 calendar days. Pending provisional approval means part of the application has met its conditions — it is not permission to serve anyone.
Source - Get leadership to the BDS Leadership Training Series within one year
The introductory session is offered in person each quarter at the Indiana Government Center, and your CEO or director, COO or CFO, waiver administrator, and systems designee must attend within one year of the pending provisional approval letter. No extension exists; miss it and the application is treated as voluntarily withdrawn.
Source - Enroll with Indiana Medicaid, then sign the DDRS agreement
Enroll with OMPP within twelve months of BDS approval or BDS issues a denial. Once Medicaid approves and BDS confirms, you sign a DDRS Service Provider Agreement and may begin serving waiver participants.
Source
Fees, screening, and renewal
Re-approval every three years
Approved BDS waiver providers go through reverification rather than a one-time approval. Confirm the current cycle and its requirements with BDS Provider Services before your first anniversary.
SourceService types
What you can be approved to deliver
BDS-administered I/DD waiver services
Family Supports WaiverCommunity Integration and Habilitation Waiver
Approval is scoped to services and counties you name
The application asks which services you intend to provide — with the educational, licensing, and credentialing information each requires — and which counties you are interested in and able to serve. Both are part of what BDS approves.
SourcePolicies and procedures per service type
You must submit the policies and procedures required for each type of service you propose to deliver, not a single generic manual.
SourceOther Indiana HCBS waivers
Health and Wellness WaiverTraumatic Brain Injury Waiver
Different waivers, different administering office
The Health and Wellness Waiver serves people 59 and younger as an alternative to nursing facility admission, and the TBI Waiver serves people with traumatic brain injury. BDS policy covers the I/DD waivers it administers — confirm the approval path with the state before assuming it is the same one.
SourceScreening
Background checks and staff eligibility
Criminal history documentation per 460 IAC 6-10-5
The application must include documentation of criminal history in the form the rule specifies. Intentionally providing false or misleading information at any point results in denial — and the two-year bar.
SourceTraining
What your staff must complete
BDS Leadership Training Series, in person, quarterly
A one-day introductory session at the Indiana Government Center, mandatory for the agency leadership team, and a gate on final review: BDS conducts its final review of application materials only after you complete it.
SourceTimeline & cost
What this actually takes
Sixty days to a provisional decision, a year to training, a year to Medicaid
A complete application draws a provisional decision within 60 calendar days. From the pending provisional approval letter you have one year to complete leadership training, and from BDS approval you have twelve months to finish Medicaid enrollment.
SourceA denial costs at least two years
Every route to denial — merits, two incomplete applications in a calendar year, a missed RFI deadline, false information, or failing to enroll with Medicaid in twelve months — carries a minimum two-year wait before you may submit again. Denials are appealable to an administrative law judge at the Office of Administrative Law Proceedings.
SourceAfter approval
Staying compliant
Re-approval at least every three years
BDS waiver providers are re-approved on a recurring cycle rather than approved once. Reverification validates continuing compliance with the statutes, rules, and requirements that applied at approval.
SourceNotify BDS of closures and reopenings
BDS publishes a provider notification form for re-opening and temporary closure notices. Use it rather than informal notice.
SourceConfirm by phone
What the state does not publish
Indiana 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.
- Is there an application fee at the BDS stage, and what does Indiana Medicaid charge institutional providers at enrollment?
Ask: BDS Provider Services, BDSProviderServices@fssa.in.gov
- Which counties and services does BDS currently have unmet need for?
Ask: BDS Provider Services, BDSProviderServices@fssa.in.gov
- What staff training hours and supervision ratios apply to the specific waiver services you plan to deliver?
Ask: BDS Help, BDS.Help@fssa.in.gov
- What proof of financial solvency does BDS consider adequate — how much cash reserve, documented how?
Ask: BDS Provider Services, BDSProviderServices@fssa.in.gov
Key contacts
Indiana provider contacts
BDS Policy 2020-03-A-001 — New Provider Approval Process
The governing policy: every deadline, every denial trigger, and the full application contents.
Visit siteBDS Medicaid HCBS Waivers
The waiver programs themselves, plus the provider notification form for closures and reopenings.
800-545-7763Visit siteBDS Developmental Disabilities
Provider enrollment resources and reverification information. General questions: BDS.Help@fssa.in.gov.
Visit siteFAQ
Indiana provider questions
How bad is a denial in Indiana?
Bad enough to plan around. Any denial carries a minimum two-year wait before you may submit another application, and there are several ways to get there — the merits, submitting a second incomplete application in a calendar year, missing the 30-day RFI deadline, providing false information, or failing to enroll with Medicaid within twelve months of BDS approval.
Where do I download the application?
You do not. An authorized representative e-mails BDS Provider Services at BDSProviderServices@fssa.in.gov, and BDS issues the New Provider Application and instructions to you directly.
What is the Leadership Training Series?
A one-day, in-person introductory session held quarterly at the Indiana Government Center. Your CEO or director, COO or CFO, waiver administrator, and systems designee must attend within one year of the pending provisional approval letter. There is no extension — missing it means the application is treated as voluntarily withdrawn and you start over.
Does BDS approval let me start serving people?
No. Final approval depends entirely on being an eligible Indiana Medicaid provider, and you may not deliver services until BDS grants final approval and you have signed the DDRS Service Provider Agreement.
Can I put FSSA or BDDS in my agency's name?
No. Applicants may not imply a direct relationship with any state agency, and BDS, BDDS, FSSA, and DDRS are specifically off limits in your organizational identity under Ind. Code 23-0.5-3-1(e).
Looking for the family-facing guide? Browse state waiver guides