Only 2 Weeks Left of the Legislative Session and Updates/Special Focus for Key End-of-Session Advocacy Efforts
Only 2 Weeks Left of the Legislative Session
There are only seven session days left and a number of issues that need your attention. At this point, we ask that you call your legislators directly to discuss the issues mentioned below and let them know how these issues directly affect your facility. Spreading the word on Facebook and Twitter can also have an immediate impact! Legislators left Albany yesterday and should be reachable in their district offices today. Find your legislators contact information here on our website.
Updates and Special Focus for Key End-of-Session Advocacy Efforts
1. Nurse Staffing Ratios: We have learned that the Assembly is looking to move the nurse staffing ratio bill out of the Ways & Means Committee and to the floor calendar for passage in the Assembly. Be sure to contact your lawmakers and tell them you oppose the bill, A.8580-A (Gunther)/S.782 (Hannon), known as the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act. This legislation would create specific staffing ratios for nurses and other direct-care staff in hospitals and nursing homes at a cost of approximately $1.06B to nursing homes state-wide. We have created a cost template for members to estimate the cost impact the proposed ratios would have on their facilities. We urge you to share this information with your legislators along with our memo of opposition.
Please visit our campaign to call, email, Facebook and/or tweet your legislators. Or, simply text RATIOS to 52886 to access our advocacy tools.
2. Sign the MOU! (Memorandum of Understanding for Housing): Nearly $2 billion which was approved in the adopted state budget for affordable housing programs is in jeopardy. The funds cannot be released until the Governor and legislative leaders agree on a plan for how to spend the funds. If an agreement is not reached by the end of session, it is likely that the MOU will not be signed for many months, causing unnecessary delays for affordable housing developments across the state.
Please contact your elected representatives and ask them to ensure that the final MOU includes a specific program for senior housing and is signed by the end of session on June 16th. Visit our campaign page to generate automatic emails, Facebook and Twitter posts to the pages of legislators and Governor Cuomo.
3. Role of the Nurse in an ACF: Our Role of the Nurse legislation was introduced in the Senate this week by Senator Hannon. Having a same as bill in the Senate is a vital step in getting this legislation passed.
A.10384 – (Gottfried)/S.7974 –(Hannon) would allow all Adult Care Facility (ACF) and assisted living providers that employ nurses the option to provide nursing services directly.
Please take the time to send your representatives a message urging them to sign onto and support this bill. Please also share our advocacy page with your board, staff, residents, resident families, and anyone else that might care about this issue; and ask them to send a message as well.
4. Integration of individuals with TBI into DD services in rural counties: A.9146 (Russell)/S.6655 (Young), authorizes the integration of individuals with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), sustained after the age of twenty-one, into programs within the developmental disabilities service sector.
In many areas of the state, particularly rural areas, there is a severe shortage of caregivers to support individuals with TBI in the community. Many times, this leads to the unfortunate placement of people into nursing homes. Oftentimes, these individuals could be served by local providers of developmental disabilities services, unless their TBI was suffered after age twenty-one. This important bill will allow these individuals to access developmental disabilities services, ensuring they can be served in a more community-based setting. Since individuals with TBI already receive Medicaid, this bill will provide no additional cost to the state and may in fact save Medicaid dollars by keeping individuals out of higher cost nursing home settings.
The bill passed the Senate this week, but has yet to move out of the Assembly Health Committee. Please take the time to send your representatives a message urging them to sign onto and support this bill by visiting our campaign. Also check out our memo of support.
5. Independent Senior Housing Resident Freedom of Choice Act: Bill A.10243 (Cymbrowitz)/S.2276-A (Young), also known as the Freedom of Choice Act would clarify that individuals living in senior housing have the right to access and obtain the same services that they would if they were an individual residing in the community, from the provider of their choosing. These services include personal care, home care, case management, technologies and other community services that support them to live independently in the community. The bill has advanced from the Assembly Aging Committee to the Codes committee where it will be considered on Mon.
Please take a look at our campaign to contact your lawmakers and ask them to support and help advance this bill in both houses of the Legislature. Also, take a look at our memo of support for more information.