Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 6042, which will ensure the proper implementation of the electronic visit verification system, or EVV, in State Medicaid programs. EVV provides a way to track the delivery of in-home Medicaid personal care services to help prevent instances of fraud and abuse and to protect patients, ensuring they get the services they are entitled to receive. Many frail, disabled, or otherwise homebound patients benefit from and even rely on Medicaid personal care services and home health services. Yet the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, OIG, found in recent years that the existing program safeguards at the time were often ineffective, despite the fact that they were intended to prevent improper payments and to ensure medical necessity, patient safety, and quality care. Furthermore, the OIG warned that fraud in this area was on the rise, which endangers vulnerable patients and wastes taxpayer money. EVV systems were developed to protect some of the most vulnerable Medicaid recipients. Last Congress, in response to the OIG report, I wrote and included a provision in the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act to require State Medicaid programs to use EVV to track all personal care services conducted in a patient's home.…”