January 30, 2016
As we get closer to likely acceptance by the General Assembly of the Waiver Redesign, many providers are becoming increasingly anxious about what the specific impact will be on their business. VNPP has made consistent efforts to both inform and encourage providers to make the effort to assess their own particular service models, individual participants (current approved funding and projected rates), and the impact on their revenue which may occur.
No provider willingly accepts a decrease in revenue – the BH providers had a 14% cut to some services in recent years and ID/DD provider rates were cut in both FY10 and FY11.
At our annual conference VNPP adopted the following:
- Support the goals for the Redesign of the ID/D Waivers which are jointly held by the individuals who are supported by the Waivers and their families, the providers who support them and agencies that develop the policy and fund the services. These goals are:
- To offer an array of service options to meet the diverse needs of the ID/D individuals who qualify for one of the three Waivers.
- To encourage supports in the most integrated settings possible by adequately funding those services which will help achieve that outcome.
- To plan, through the person centered planning process, supports that meet but do not exceed the needs and preferences of the individual.
It is clear that CMS will not accept the proposed Waiver Applications without the rate methodology adopted from the Burn’s and Associates study. It is equally clear that we are past the point for this process in this year to affect any significant change for a particular service. (There are amendment requests under consideration for increasing the Northern Virginia rates by modifying the wage factor in the original methodology – the funds requested are as high as $22M GF in FY17 and $44M GF in FY18)
We are laying the ground work for examination of specific rates in the next Session, our approach on the Legislative Day for the LPRC Committee was well received; we are offering, when asked, specific example of issues which may be exacerbated by the new rate structure as well as those which will be resolved! And we are looking at possible uses for the one-time Trust Fund money to make sure that the proposals are what will really be helpful to providers!
We are committed, along with The Arc of Virginia, VaACCSES, VACIL, and VACSB, to supporting the Waiver Redesign and getting it approved by the General Assembly, processed by CMS and implemented by DBHDS & DMAS by July 1!