July 19, 2018
Late Tuesday evening, the US Senate passed H.R. 6042 by unanimous consent. Among other provisions, this bill would delay the implementation of the new electronic visit verification requirement (EVV) for Home and Community-based Services. The bill delays implementation by one year (until January 2020) and permits an additional one year good-faith delay which will allow states to request an extension until January 2021. The bill also requires that states convene stakeholders to discuss implementation.
Virginia has already formed a stakeholder group to review the requirements and draft regulations. It is also reaching out to the consumers and families (especially those with consumer-directed care) who will be most immediately and heavily impacted.
A brief conversation yesterday with DMAS staff suggested that even though DMAS was in the procurement process for a new fiscal agent for CD Services and had included all of the requirements for EVV in the RFP, they were willing to consider allowing the delay and spending the time in greater preparation. We hope that is the case!