DOH Proposes Funding Pool and Extends Survey Due Date on Wage Parity
The Department of Health (DOH) plans to create a new $70 million Quality Incentive/Vital Access Provider Pool (QIVAPP) aimed at providing funding to Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSAs) for wage parity requirements. The Department’s deadline for Medicaid managed care plans to respond to a survey of their home care network providers on wage parity has also been extended from April 4th to April 14th.
Last week, DOH met with LeadingAge NY and other groups to discuss the QIVAPP, a program that will provide up to $70 million in funding to Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) plans to be passed through to qualifying LHCSAs to support wage parity compliance costs. DOH is proposing that to qualify for this funding, a LHCSA must: (1) maintain or participate in a specialty training program for their home health and personal care aides endorsed by a labor organization; (2) implement a quality assurance program; and (3) participate in a health benefit fund for their aides. DOH indicated willingness to consider exemptions to these criteria on a case-by-case basis. LeadingAge NY and the other groups raised several questions and concerns.
The $70 million in funding for the QIVAPP is coming from a combination of LHCSA VAP funding in the 2014-15 budget, leftover funds from last year’s state budget and managed care quality and efficiency adjustments. This amount is in addition to $300 million that will be paid to MLTCs and $50 million that will go to Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs) and Long Term Home Health Care Programs (LTHHCPs) that contract with LHCSAs, both for wage parity compliance costs. DOH said they are working on revising MLTC rates, as well as fee-for-service rate changes for CHHAs and LTHHCPs.
DOH had asked managed care plans to submit detailed information on their contracts with home care agencies related to wage parity including hourly pay rates for aides, percentages of administrative costs, current hours provided and projections of hours through the end of 2014. Initially DOH asked for this information by April 4th, but has extended the deadline to April 14th.
DOH shared a draft Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) on the QIVAPP with LeadingAge NY for feedback. The letter would be sent to MLTCs explaining the program and other wage parity areas. We submitted extensive comments on the letter at the end of last week. As of this writing, DOH is still reviewing the feedback, and indicated that a DAL should be issued shortly. LeadingAge NY will keep members posted on any new developments in this area as they occur.
Contact: Cheryl Udell, cudell@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383, ext. 141