Virginia’s Medicaid agency has imposed strict new regulations on reimbursement for people who act as a caregiver for their spouse or minor child with a disability.
The restrictions, which hit March 1, will mean many people who have been paid to provide care for a Medicaid-enrolled family member will no longer qualify and will stop receiving payments.
The move by the Department of Medical Assistance Services will leave many of Virginia’s most economically vulnerable families without a lifeline first allowed during the Federal Public Health Emergency and then made permanent by the General Assembly in 2022.
DMAS data shows the program’s numbers have decreased by more than 20% in the past year as families struggled to prove they met the new regulations. They include a requirement to prove no one else can care for their loved one(s) and a blanket ban on spouses fulfilling an administrative role in the caregiving.
The regulations come during a national caregiver shortage that’s particularly severe in Virginia.
Rural families are impacted especially hard because there are fewer caregivers and worse overall economic conditions in the region’s rural areas.
The General Assembly is currently considering legislation to address the issue, but even the most immediate fix wouldn’t come before the regulations take effect.
But DMAS said in a statement the agency is working with the federal Medicaid agency and the General Assembly to “extend flexibilities to allow for time to implement any policy changes directed by the General Assembly.”
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