DATA 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program FAQs

The DATA 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program aims to improve health care, including for rural populations, by promoting greater access to substance use disorder treatment through payments to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), providing a set amount for each eligible provider possessing a DATA 2000 waiver on or after January 1, 2019.

Eligible FQHCs and RHCs may apply for payment on behalf of their eligible providers through HRSA Electronic Handbooks beginning June 30, 2021.

HRSA will accept applications and process payments until all available funds are exhausted, on a first-come, first-served basis.

This program is a collaboration of HRSA’s Office of Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation; Federal Office of Rural Health Policy; Bureau of Primary Health Care; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Only eligible FQHCs and RHCs may apply and receive payment on behalf of their eligible providers under the DATA 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program.

HRSA will only process payments for applicants certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as an active FQHC or RHC.  HRSA will validate the applicant’s status as an eligible FQHC or RHC using the applicant’s CMS Certification Number (CCN) and other submitted information included in the application.

FQHCs include:

• Community health centers
• Health center program “look-alikes”
• Migrant health centers
• Health care for the homeless health centers
• Public housing primary care centers
• Outpatient health programs or facilities operated by a tribe or tribal organization or by an urban Indian organization

Eligible providers include only those who:

1. Are a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or certified registered nurse anesthetist;
2. First obtained a DATA 2000 waiver on or after January 1, 2019; and
3. Are employed by or working under contract for the applying FQHC or RHC.

An eligible provider may be claimed only once by an eligible FQHC or RHC.

As part of the application process, the applicant must certify that all submitted providers furnish opioid use disorder services at the facility they are employed.  Opioid use disorder treatment services include:

• FDA-approved opioid agonist and antagonist treatment medications;
• dispensing and administering medications;
• substance use disorder counseling;
• individual and group therapy;
• toxicology testing;
• intake activities; or
• periodic assessments.

The Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder exempt eligible physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse midwives from federal certification requirements related to training, counseling and other ancillary services that are part of the process for obtaining a waiver to treat up to 30 patients with buprenorphine.  Submission and approval of a Notice of Intent (NOI) remains legally necessary in order to use buprenorphine in the treatment of patients with OUD.  Providers who do not wish to practice under the exemption and its attendant 30 patient limit may seek a waiver per established protocols.  

In order for an applicant to receive payment for submitted providers under the DATA 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program, those providers must possess a DATA 2000 waiver number.  HRSA is only permitted to process payments for eligible providers with a valid DATA 2000 waiver number attained on or after January 1, 2019.

There is no deadline to apply, but available funds are limited and will be paid on a first-come, first-served basis.  The SUPPORT Act made $6 million available to FQHCs and $2 million available to RHCs under the DATA 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program. HRSA will accept applications and process payments until all available funds are exhausted.

HRSA will validate some elements of the application at the point of entry and notify the applicant during the application process if an entry is not valid.  Following acceptance of the applicant’s submission, HRSA, in collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will conduct a more rigorous review to determine whether the applicant is eligible to be paid for each claimed provider.  HRSA will process a payment in an amount commensurate with the total number of validated providers (see: Payment, below).  For those providers not successfully validated, the applicant will receive a notification from HRSA and be offered an opportunity to submit another application with corrected information, subject to the availability of funds.

It may be necessary to submit more than one application should a FQHC or RHC desire payment for newly hired providers with an existing DATA 2000 waiver, providers with newly attained DATA 2000 waivers, or if there are errors in the initial application submission requiring an application resubmission.  HRSA will accept and process multiple applications from the same applicant, subject to the availability of funds.

HRSA considers the date of waiver attainment to be the certification date indicated on the approval letter providers receive from SAMHSA notifying them of their waiver level.

HRSA will pay $3,000 for each eligible provider submitted on the application.  HRSA will only pay for an eligible provider once.

For example, if an applicant submits information for three providers, and those providers are subsequently validated as eligible providers, the applicant will receive a payment in the amount of $9,000.  

If HRSA determines that one of the three submitted providers has already been counted toward a payment issued under a previously submitted application (e.g., an application submitted by a different site or parent organization at which the provider is employed and opioid use disorder services are rendered), then the applicant will receive a payment in the amount of $6,000, for the two eligible providers.

There are no limitations on the use of funds, or subsequent reporting requirements on the use of funds, by FQHCs and RHCs.

The Unified Financial Management System (UFMS) is the system used to process payments for the Data 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program.

The notification you received is just to let you know the status of your payments. Once UFMS processes the payments, which may take 2 to 3 weeks, Treasury will deposit the payments directly into the bank account you provided when you registered with SAM.gov. No action is necessary on your part.

For any additional questions regarding the DATA 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program, please contact:

• Data2000WaiverPayments@hrsa.gov