In-home care providers, state Medicaid programs and their tech-vendor partners will very likely have at least one more year to gear up for the federally mandated nationwide rollout of electronic visit verification (EVV).
That is, depending on what President Donald Trump decides to do.
The U.S. House of Representatives last month signed off on H.R. 6042, a widely supported piece of bipartisan legislation that delays EVV implementation until 2020 and pushes back potential penalties that personal care providers may have otherwise incurred. H.R. 6042 is more commonly known as the Guthrie Act, in reference to its main sponsor, Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Kentucky).
Following the House’s lead, the Senate unanimously approved the legislation last week. The Guthrie Act now sits on the president’s desk for him to sign or veto. Alternatively, the president can do nothing, in which case the bill would become law after 10 days. H.R. 6042 was formally sent to Trump on July 19.
“Most of us in the industry expect the president to sign the legislation,” Sandata Technologies CEO Tom Underwood told Home Health Care News in an email. “It has strong bipartisan support.”
Sandata Technologies is a provider of workforce and operational management solutions that enable government agencies, managed care organizations and home care providers to streamline services. The New York-based company has helped implement EVV solutions in Connecticut, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Rhode Island and at least eight other states.
Written by: Robert Holly