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Dear Provider,
Governor Ralph Northam recently announced that aides and attendants who provided direct personal care services to Medicaid members from March 12, 2020, through June 30, 2020, qualify for a one-time hazard payment of $1,500 (employee taxes will be deducted from the final payment).
This initiative is funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed in March 2020.
Please read this email carefully. It provides information on the hazard pay process and includes the steps that agencies must take to ensure their staff receive these funds.
Who qualifies for this payment?
Aides who provided direct services that meet the criteria below qualify to receive the one-time hazard payment:
- Provided direct care to a Medicaid member anytime from March 12, 2020, to June 30, 2020.
- Aides must have passed all required background checks and be eligible to deliver services in the Medicaid program. Anyone on the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) does not qualify for payment.
- Staff no longer employed by the agency still qualify if they provided services during the specified dates. DMAS will make payments to these aides.
- Staff who provided any amount of service during the designated time period qualify for hazard pay.
- Temporary aides who are spouses or parents of minor children qualify.
What services qualify?
Services that were delivered through one of the following programs qualify:
- Commonwealth Coordinated Care Plus (CCC Plus) waiver;
- Community Living waiver;
- Family and Individual Supports waiver;
- Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT);
- Medicaid Works; or the
- Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).
The care provided must have been billed as Personal care (T1019), Respite care (T1005), Companion (S5135) services or delivered through a contract with PACE.
How to request hazard payment for your aides
Your agency must take the following steps for qualified staff to get this payment.
- Send staff rosters directly to DMAS through a secured website. To access this website, you will receive an email from mft@dmas.virgininia.gov. The subject of the email will be “Hazard Pay Data Exchange.” You will complete and submit your rosters using the directions provided in the email. All submissions will be securely maintained to ensure privacy of aides.
- Sign an attestation that your agency will provide hazard pay to your qualified staff. The attestation must be signed before any hazard pay funds are transferred to your agency. Click this link to sign the attestation: Attestation Form
- Your agency has been identified as receiving only fee-for-service payment or claims payments from DMAS. Because the funding for this initiative is separate from Title XIX Medicaid funding, we need an administrative provider identification (API) number to remit payments to your organization. In order for qualified agency staff to receive payments, agencies must complete an API enrollment form and submit a completed W-9. The one-page API Enrollment Form with instructions for Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) reimbursement by DMAS and a blank substitute W-9 form can be found here. Scroll down to the Hazard Pay banner and look for “Forms for use by FFS Agencies to obtain hazard pay funds for aides.” DMAS must receive both forms before we distribute payments. Send the completed forms to: caresactproviderenrollment@dmas.virginia.gov.
Payment Activities
- You will receive a spreadsheet titled, “Assigned Aide Payments” containing the names of the aides in which to make the payment. No aide may receive more than one hazard payment. Aides working with another agency provider may not be included on your list; they will be paid by another provider.
- Each agency will receive the funds for hazard payments from either DMAS or a managed care organization (MCO) after January 1, 2021. The hazard pay funds will include an additional 10% to help cover your agency’s payroll expenses. Your agency will then make the hazard payment to each aide identified on the list returned to you by DMAS or an MCO. Your agency will withhold any applicable taxes or other payroll withholdings specific to that employee.
- After your agency makes the payments, you will enter the payment date on the Assigned Aide Payments spreadsheet. You will submit the spreadsheet and an invoice following the instructions provided by DMAS/MCO.
- After documentation of payment is received, DMAS/MCO will provide funds to your agency to help cover administrative costs for distributing the payments. The agency administration fee is $15 per aide paid by the agency.
DMAS is hosting weekly webinars to discuss the specific steps identified in this email. Find the schedule for the webinars here at the bottom of the page.
Additional questions? Email Hazardpay@dmas.virginia.gov
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