The disAbility Law Center of Virginia (dLCV) respectfully submits the following public comments regarding Virginia's proposed regulations for Electronic Visit Verification (EVV). We are acutely aware of the considerable anxiety and concern felt by the disability community, especially those who utilize consumer directed services, at this time. In reviewing federal requirements for EVV and Virginia's proposed regulations, we identified three broad issue areas that we believe necessitate further revision.

First, the proposed regulations do not appear to provide any meaningful assurances to beneficiaries regarding the security of their personal EVV data. In fact, the regulations as written in some instances require personal data maintenance for more than twenty years. Given how vulnerable so many cloud servers and web applications are to hacking and other data integrity issues, we believe DMAS should include a formal grievance, complaint, reporting, or investigation process for beneficiaries. 

Second, while the regulations are clear in their expectation that providers ensure selected EVV systems can handle several different staffing scenarios and be accessible for input twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, there is again no clear grievance, complaint, reporting, or investigation process for if and when they are not. The EVV applications already in use in Virginia are filled with bugs and connectivity issues, and these issues are placing many beneficiaries at risk for institutionalization. 

Third, Virginia is required to provide a stakeholder process to allow input from providers, beneficiaries, family caregivers, and others about the state's implementation of EVV. To ensure compliance with federal requirements and best practices for stakeholder involvement, we urge DMAS to codify this process in the regulations.

dLCV strongly supports the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services in their stated commitment of conforming requirements of the Virginia Medicaid program with the 21st Century Cures Act in an effort to prevent reductions in federal Medicaid reimbursements. However, we believe more must be done to protect Virginians with disabilities who rely upon in home personal care services. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of dLCV's public comments.

Sincerely,

Colleen Miller

Executive Director