Legislative Bulletin: Several Upcoming Advocacy Days

Help Expedite Veterans’ Benefits
Is your organization, the veterans you serve or their spouses struggling to receive Veterans’ Affairs (VA) benefits? We have heard from members that these benefits can take up to two years to be distributed – often leaving providers in a position to choose between providing care at an extensive cost or placing veterans’ unnecessarily into nursing homes. LeadingAge New York has been meeting with lawmakers on the State and federal level to discuss the significant waiting periods for the Aid and Attendant benefits.

Next Monday, May 12, we have a meeting scheduled with Congressman Paul Tonko, in his Albany office, to discuss this significant problem and seek his assistance. We are also meeting with Sen. Greg Ball, chair of the NYS Senate Veterans, Homeland Security & Military Affairs Committee and Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, chair of the Assembly Veterans’ Affairs Committee. We are asking New York State legislators to sign a joint letter to Congress and the VA seeking a solution to the growing backlog of applications. If you would like to participate in these legislative meetings, please contact Ami Schnauber or Alyssa Lovelace at 518-867-8383.

We recently met with staff from Sen. Schumer’s and Sen. Gillibrand’s offices to discuss this issue. Sen. Gillibrand has suggested that members send her office a casework authorization form for every outstanding application for Aid and Attendant Benefits, which will allow her office to advocate on behalf of her constituents. Sen. Gillibrand’s office will work directly with relevant federal agencies to get timely responses to their applications.

Congress will be on break next week and in their district offices. We urge you to take this opportunity to discuss the challenges you are having with accessing Aid and Attendant Benefits for the veterans you serve. Feel free to use our Talking Points for your discussions and meetings.

Attn: Nursing Home Providers –Raise Your Voice on Nurse Staffing Ratios!
Advocacy Day on Tues., May 20
Join us on Tues., May 20 in Albany to meet with lawmakers and central staff to take a stand against legislation mandating nurse staffing ratios! This legislation, known as the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act (A.6571 (Gottfried)-S.3691-A (Hannon)), would create specific staffing ratios for nurses and other direct-care staff in hospitals and nursing homes. LeadingAge New York opposes this bill and is hosting a Nursing Home Advocacy Day on Tues., May 20 to discuss the bill with lawmakers. The NYS Nurses Association and other unions in support of the bill will also be in Albany on May 20 holding a large rally in support of staffing ratios. We urge you to join us to help us prevent this bill from moving forward – registration is available here. In the meantime, please send a letter to your lawmakers, asking them to oppose this legislation.

CCRC Legislation Advances in the Legislature
Legislation that would allow Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) to provide Continuing Care at Home contracts to seniors who live in their own homes has passed the Assembly unanimously and is now on the Senate calendar for passage next week. A similar bill passed the Senate last year so we expect it to pass quickly in that house as well. We will now work with the Governor’s office and the Department of Health to ensure the bill gets signed into law.

Attn: CCRC Members – Register Now: LeadingAge NY will host a CCRC Educational Luncheon on Mon., June 2 in Albany. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Albany Room located on Empire State Plaza in Albany. Legislators who represent CCRCs have been invited to partake in this educational luncheon to discuss the current status of CCRCs in New York, CCRC models in other states and the future of CCRCs in New York. We ask that you contact your lawmakers to follow up on the invitation sent out by LeadingAge NY on the CCRCs’ behalf. You can access your lawmakers’ contact information here, where you will be prompted to input your ZIP code. If you need assistance with reaching out to your lawmakers, please contact Alyssa Lovelace at 518-867-8844. If you are not registered for this event, please do so here.

Are You Registered to Golf?
The LeadingAge NY Golf Tournament is right around the corner! Tee off will be at 12:45 on Mon., June 16th for the 18-hole tournament, followed by a 3 p.m. pro-clinic and 9-hole tournament. In addition, there are plenty of sponsor opportunities still available for purchase, including tee-sign sponsorships. Those who sponsor a tee-sign will receive their name and their organization/company’s name on a tee-sign located on the green. This sponsorship is available to provider-members, as well as associate members, vendors and non-members. Click here to have your name seen on the green and here to register to golf and view sponsorship opportunities.