Ohio presses ahead on controversial Medicaid ‘electronic verification’

Ohio won’t be taking advantage of new legislation that allows states to delay for a year the required implementation of “electronic visit verification” systems, which use technology to log the visits of home-health workers and personal-care aides.

The decision by the Ohio Department of Medicaid to stick to the current timeline disappoints many consumers and advocacy groups. The initial rollout of the system has been far from popular, drawing complaints about glitches, a lack of communication and training and — perhaps the most contentious issue — what many view as an invasion of privacy.

“Ohio is the only state that is GPS-tracking people,” said Alicia Hopkins, an Akron resident and disability-rights advocate who has been leading an online campaign against “invasive” electronic visit verification. “What about our civil rights? You’re forcing us to use this and not accepting any of our input.”

States are being required to establish some type of electronic verification system as part of a federal push to reduce Medicaid fraud. Ohio’s uses repurposed cellphones with GPS monitoring capability, and the devices are supposed to remain with the consumer wherever they receive services.

New York-based Sandata Technologies has a seven-year, $66.5 million contract to administer the system in Ohio.

In addition to the privacy worries, Hopkins and others say the methods aren’t likely to work well for people with significant developmental and intellectual disabilities, a group scheduled to be using electronic verification next spring. The federal legislation recently passed by Congress would let states postpone implementation until January 2020.

“We asked them to delay — we asked several times — and we asked them not to use the GPS,” Michael Kirkman, executive director of Disability Rights Ohio, said of his group’s discussions with the state.

The Ohio Provider Resource Association, which represents direct-support workers, also has pushed Medicaid officials to delay.

“They’ve been resolute,” Kirkman said. “And we still have never gotten any information about why Ohio went down this road so early and so hard. “

Ohio’s two senators, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Rob Portman, were among those who proposed the legislative delay, saying states and consumers should have time and flexibility to ensure the complex systems operate smoothly. About 23,000 Ohioans who receive Medicaid-funded services are using the verification system now; the total could approach 150,000 when the implementation is complete, the state said.

Brown said Friday that Ohio ought to make the most of the delay by listening to the concerns of consumers and workers. “We passed this delay to give states more time to get this right,” he said.

Medicaid officials, however, say the state is not proceeding too quickly and already has extended some timelines on its own. Assistant Medicaid Director Jim Tassie said the department understands that people with certain disabilities won’t be able to use an electronic device to verify, by voice or by signature, that they received services.

“We’re still at the phase where we’re working very closely with the Department of Developmental Disabilities,” he said. “One of the things we learned with phase one is, you cannot over-communicate. We quite clearly recognize that there is consternation about this.”

Gary Tonks, executive director of The Arc of Ohio, a statewide association of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, professionals and others, said the state still has a long way to go to address potential problems. State officials still haven’t explained, he said, what should be done in rural areas where internet and cellphone connections are spotty.

Because Ohio was an early adopter of electronic visit verification, “The rest of the country is watching us,” Tonks said. “And we have been messing up.”

CREDIT: RITA PRICE