Department of Developmental Services (DDS)
Operates the adult intellectual disability waivers and the children's autism waiver, qualifies their providers, and runs the Provider Data Management system.
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Massachusetts provider enrollment
How to Become a Medicaid Waiver Provider in Massachusetts
What Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts
Massachusetts is the state where the usual advice — find the application form — points you in the wrong direction. Providers who want to be paid directly for DDS waiver services respond to the applicable procurement on COMMBUYS, the Commonwealth's procurement system, and must meet the licensing or certification standards for the service they are bidding on. That means your timeline is set by when a procurement is posted, and your first task is watching COMMBUYS rather than assembling a packet. Which agency you deal with depends on which waiver: MassHealth operates the ten waivers in partnership with the Executive Office of Aging & Independence, the Department of Developmental Services, and MassAbility, and each manages provider enrollment separately — so confirm the agency before you invest in a process. Once you are qualified, DDS's Provider Data Management system carries the application, qualification, and post-qualification steps, and DDS's own rules at 115 CMR describe the services and the provider requirements behind them.
Who certifies you
The agencies that decide
MassHealth
The Medicaid agency. Operates the HCBS waivers in partnership with the other agencies and issues the Provider Identification Number used for billing.
Visit siteCOMMBUYS
The Commonwealth's official procurement record system, where the procurements that DDS waiver providers respond to are posted.
Visit siteBefore you apply
What has to be true first
The way in is a procurement response
Providers who want to be paid directly through MassHealth for these waiver services respond to the applicable procurement on COMMBUYS and must meet all applicable licensing or certification standards for the service.
SourceEach waiver's operating agency runs its own enrollment
MassHealth operates the ten HCBS waivers together with the Executive Office of Aging & Independence, DDS, and MassAbility, and each agency manages its own provider enrollment process. Identify the waiver first, then the agency.
Source115 CMR is the rule set behind the services
The DDS policies describing waiver services and provider requirements sit in the Department of Developmental Services regulations at 115 CMR. Read the sections for your service before responding to a procurement.
SourceEnrollment
How to enroll in Massachusetts
Identify which agency operates your waiver, meet the licensing or certification standard for the service, respond to the applicable COMMBUYS procurement, then work the qualification steps in DDS's Provider Data Management system.
Application system: DDS — HCBS waivers for adults with intellectual disabilities: information for providers
- Work out which waiver and which agency
Massachusetts runs ten HCBS waivers. MassHealth, the Executive Office of Aging & Independence, DDS, and MassAbility each handle their own provider enrollment, so the agency you approach depends on the waiver you intend to serve.
Source - Meet the licensing or certification standard for the service
Qualification is service-specific: you must meet all applicable licensing and certification standards before a procurement response can succeed.
Source - Respond to the procurement on COMMBUYS
For DDS waiver services, providers seeking direct MassHealth payment respond to the applicable procurement posted in the Commonwealth's official procurement record system.
Source - Use Provider Data Management for qualification
DDS offers the Provider Data Management system, which guides waiver service providers through the application, qualification, and post-qualification stages.
Source - Get your MassHealth Provider Identification Number
Approved providers are assigned a MassHealth Provider Identification Number, which is what billing and claims submission run on.
Source
Service types
What you can be approved to deliver
DDS adult waiver services
Adult Supports WaiverCommunity Living WaiverIntensive Supports Waiver
Qualification runs through procurement and PDM
Providers of services in the HCBS waivers for adults with intellectual disabilities complete the application and meet the qualifications set out through COMMBUYS, with DDS's Provider Data Management system carrying the process.
SourceDDS Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Waiver services
DDS Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Waiver
A separate provider track
The children's autism waiver has its own provider information published by DDS, distinct from the adult waivers.
SourceTimeline & cost
What this actually takes
Your start date is a procurement calendar, not a queue position
Because entry is by response to a posted procurement, the realistic timeline begins when the applicable procurement is posted on COMMBUYS — not when you decide you are ready.
SourceConfirm by phone
What the state does not publish
Massachusetts 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.
- Which DDS procurements are currently open on COMMBUYS, and how often are new ones posted for your service and region?
Ask: Massachusetts DDS, via its provider information page on mass.gov
- What licensing or certification does your specific service require before you can respond to a procurement?
Ask: Massachusetts DDS, via its provider information page on mass.gov
- How does MassHealth enrollment and credentialing sequence against DDS qualification, and what does it require?
Ask: MassHealth provider enrollment
- What background checks (CORI/SORI) and staff training does DDS require for waiver service staff?
Ask: Massachusetts DDS, via its provider information page on mass.gov
- For a non-DDS waiver, does the Executive Office of Aging & Independence or MassAbility use a procurement model too, or a direct application?
Ask: The agency operating that waiver
Key contacts
Massachusetts provider contacts
Home and Community Based Services Waivers
The ten waivers, the four operating agencies, and where each agency's provider enrollment lives.
Visit siteHCBS Waivers for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: Information for Providers
DDS's provider-facing page: procurement, Provider Data Management, and 115 CMR.
Visit siteMassHealth Provider Enrollment & Credentialing FAQ
The Medicaid enrollment side, including the Provider Identification Number.
Visit siteFAQ
Massachusetts provider questions
Where do I get the application to become a DDS waiver provider?
There is not one in the usual sense. Providers seeking direct MassHealth payment for DDS waiver services respond to the applicable procurement posted on COMMBUYS, the Commonwealth's official procurement record system, and must meet the licensing or certification standards for the service.
Do all ten Massachusetts waivers work the same way?
No. MassHealth operates them with the Executive Office of Aging & Independence, DDS, and MassAbility, and each agency manages its own provider enrollment process. Identify which agency operates the waiver you care about before you start.
What is Provider Data Management?
DDS's system for waiver providers, covering the application, qualification, and post-qualification stages of becoming and staying a qualified provider.
Where are the provider requirements written down?
In the DDS regulations at 115 CMR, which describe the waiver services and the requirements that go with them.
Looking for the family-facing guide? Browse state waiver guides