We request that the 10% Medicaid increase FMAP for HCBS Medicaid Agency Directed Personal Care Providers. This program has always been inadequately funded. As an agency we are REQUIRED Registered Nurses, Brick and Mortar Building, General Liability, Professional Liability totaling $3 million per occurrence (very costly), Compensation, Criminal History on every new hire, TB, Va Dept of Health Licensure, we have to cover mileage for our aides that we are not reimbursed for and supply gloves and paperwork that we are not reimbursed for....ALL of this while managing phone bills, electricity, water, internet and other general bills that businesses have....We cannot afford to give our employees benefits or raises because there is nothing left to do that with! The Consumer Directed program/Aides continue to receive higher pay than we can pay and now the State has given them paid days off and vacation...We CANNOT give either of those to our aides on the reimbursement we receive.

With the Minimum Wage increase to $9.50 ($2.25 only offset by $.92) This has placed a hardship on Agencies that we may not recover from. This wage increase caused compensation and Employer taxes to increase drastically. We are taking care of the Commonwealth's most Vulnerable population and every single program out there is being reimbursed more than we are! Most Agencies will be lucky to survive until January when the next increase is planned and they will only survive a short time after that because Minimum wage is set to raise to $11 an hour at that time.

1. My Request is to raise Personal Care Reimbursement rates to an amount that we can survive after taking care of what is required of us and that we can pay our employees a workable wage with some type of benefits.....If the Consumer Directed Aides deserve it ours do as well!
2. The rate increase should be retroactive to April 1, 2021
3. The directed payments provision of 42 C.F.R 438.6(c) should be invoked to ensure increased funds are indeed distributed to Managed Care and passed along to Personal Care Providers ASAP...there is no time to waste!! All Agencies need help NOW....This last year of Covid 19 has cost large amounts of money to these Agencies that we DID NOT receive any type of reimbursement for while all other programs did! 

Help us to help the Elderly and Disable in Virginia!!!