My name is LaNoral Thomas, and I’m a wife and mom living in Prince William county, VA. It’s no secret that older adults and people with disabilities live longer, and healthier lives when they are able to live at home safely with care providers. For children, it’s vital that they are able to receive care from their parents/guardians. We learned during the pandemic various benefits of parents being allowed to serve as the paid caregiver to waiver eligible minors. Because of these lessons learned we hope to continue to see positive changes in Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers. We want to make sure the provisions provided to parents and consumers during the pandemic continue with the ability of parents to be the LRI.

Instead of a start date of 1/1/2025, I ask that this change be backdated to start 3/1/2024. I also ask that we extend respite services to LRIs in a manner that is consistent with respite services that can be assessed by patients using the consumer directed option.