I am submitting the following comments on behalf of the vaACCSES Board of Directors and our member organizations. The DBHDS Office of Licensing proposed guidance document dated July 12, 2019 directly contradicts the language in the current regulation for which the guidance seeks to interpret.
Current regulation 12VAC35-105-210 states “The provider shall document financial arrangements or a line of credit that are adequate to ensure maintenance of ongoing operations for at least 90 days on an ongoing basis. This amount needed shall be based on a working budget showing projected revenue and expenses.”
The proposed guidance below by the DBHDS Office of Licensing exceeds the intent and spirit of the current regulation and creates a new onerous regulatory requirement. Any substantive policy change requires that it proceed through the traditional regulatory process.
“Therefore, both applicants for licensure and licensed providers must be able to provide proof, at any time when requested by a representative from the department, that they have sufficient funds for 90 days of operating expenses, whether in cash or a line of credit.”
Although we understand and support the importance of all licensed providers to maintain their legal and financial obligations, the overly strict interpretation of the current regulation will impose an unfunded mandate and will most certainly cause an undue hardship on both large and small providers.
We oppose the proposed guidance document language for the following reasons:
We propose the following recommendations:
DD Waiver licensed providers have been and continue to be valued partners with DBHDS in the delivery of valued quality services to Virginians with disabilities. Extreme caution must be considered before moving forward with any dramatic changes in additional financial requirements of licensed providers. The proposed omission of “projected revenue” in the Guidance document alone could have dire unanticipated outcomes that could permanently damage the DD service system as a whole.
We would welcome the opportunity to actively work with the DBHDS Office of Licensing to develop a satisfactory remedy to whatever problem you seek to solve regarding the fiscal responsibilities of providers.