Kimberly Lamon at Budget Hearing

Hello, my name is Kimberly Lamon. I live with my family in Norfolk, Virginia. I not only work as personal care assistant, PCA, but my son who is physically disabled is a client and uses personal attendant services. So I see this issue from two perspectives. And I would like to share with you the need for improvements in the Medicaid Waiver.

I wake up early every morning so that my consumer can get dressed, eat, and ready for work. We PCAs are the support that thousands of people with disabilities rely on to live independently at home and in their communities. Because my son and the consumers that I work with are under the Medicaid Waiver with Consumer-Direction we save the state a LOT of money. If my son or my clients were to be in a nursing home or institution it would cost us as taxpayers thousands more each month.

I love the work that I do but there are many things that need to be improved for PCAs in the Medicaid Waiver.

First of all, PCAs are not paid enough to encourage people to work in the field. $8.60 an hour is just not enough. That wage provides little incentive for dependable and reliable employees.  If my son's PCA doesn't show up, it has an effect on not only my family and me, but it affects my clients. The constant turnover in the home care workforce creates an ongoing cycle of chaos in our lives.

Second, there aren't enough Medicaid waivers to go around. My son has a DD waiver, but he sat on the waiting list for over a year before he was approved for the waiver and was then able to hire attendants. Mike is one of the lucky ones. There are many, many people who are not getting the services they need due to the lack of Medicaid waivers. And the ridiculously long waiting period, some of them as long as six years

The General Assembly needs to ACT to help build a stable workforce. Independent service providers like those represented by Virginia Association of Personal Care Assistants (VAPCA)- MANY OF WHOM ARE HERE TODAY- are the way to go. The Medicaid waivers are the preferred method and they are better than agencies that pay the PCA less and where the client's stuck with who ever they send that day, or being abandoned to the understaffed institutions

People with disabilities in Virginia deserve a stable, professional workforce. You have the power to help by making sure the state budget includes a reimbursement rate increase for consumer-directed personal care. Please support budget amendments that support Virginia's PCA, consumers, and families.

Thank you for your time.