Legislative Bulletin: 2017 Legislative Session Concludes
2017 Legislative Session Concludes
The 2017 Legislative Session concluded late Wednesday night, after lawmakers passed a host of bills and confirmed gubernatorial nominees to state authorities, boards, and commissions. Leaders were able to reach agreement on several high-profile issues, including adding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana treatment and requiring several state authorities and agencies to buy steel and iron products from companies based in the United States. Left unresolved, however, were the issues of mayoral control of New York City schools (due to expire on June 30th) and extending county sales-tax rates, which will expire unless renewed by Dec. 31st. Lawmakers are expected to return to Albany sometime before the fall to hammer out agreements.
Final Updates on Key Advocacy Issues
Below are final updates on the key health, housing, and long term care initiatives that LeadingAge NY pursued this session. We have many successes to be proud of, and we would not have accomplished them without your advocacy. Thank you!
- SSI Increase for ACFs: A.6715-B (Brindisi)/S.6732 (Serino) would increase the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) rate for adult care facilities (ACFs) by $20 per resident per day over five years, beginning April 1, 2018. LeadingAge NY is pleased to report that the bill passed both houses and is now awaiting Governor Cuomo’s approval. Despite this victory, our advocacy is not finished; we now need to push the Governor to sign it. Click here to send him a pre-written letter urging his approval. As we learned over the course of session, social media is a particularly powerful tool for amplifying our message and building support for important initiatives. Accordingly, LeadingAge NY has written two posts for you to share with the Governor on Facebook and Twitter:
.@NYGovCuomo Please sign A.6715-B/S.6732! An SSI increase for ACF residents will keep them out of nursing homes & save the state Medicaid $.
@GovernorAndrewCuomo, please sign A.6715-B/S.6732 to increase the SSI rate for ACFs by $20 per resident per day! An increase will save Medicaid dollars by maintaining ACFs as financially-viable alternatives to nursing homes and allowing beneficiaries to remain in community-based settings. #SupportOurSeniors
- Nursing Home Bed Hold Benefits: A.8338 (Gottfried)/S.6559 (Hannon) would fully restore the nursing home bed hold cuts included in the final 2017-18 State Budget. The bill passed both houses and is headed to the Governor’s desk. Please urge the Governor to sign this bill by sending him our pre-written letter and the following messages on social media:
.@NYGovCuomo Please sign A.8338/S.6559 to ensure that nursing home residents can always return to their beds! #SupportOurSeniors
@GovernorAndrewCuomo, please sign A.8338/S.6559 to ensure that nursing home residents can always return to their beds! #SupportOurSeniors
- ALP CON Process: A.7727-A (Lupardo)/S.5840 (Hannon) would convert the Assisted Living Program (ALP) from a competitive solicitation process to a certificate of need (CON) process that awards beds based on demonstrated community need and allow existing ALP providers to add up to nine beds through an expedited process. The bill passed both houses and now heads to the Governor’s desk for approval. You can send him a pre-written letter, tweet, or Facebook message by clicking here.
For the following bills, which either passed only one house or remained in committee, LeadingAge NY encourages you to continue your advocacy efforts throughout the summer and fall.
- Affordable Senior Housing and Services Program: S.5141-B (Little) would establish an Affordable Senior Housing and Services Program with its own rules and scoring criteria and provide for optional basic healthy aging services for senior housing residents. The bill passed the Senate twice. While the Senate pursued agreement on this legislation, recalling and amending it to address concerns, the Assembly did not act. A.6804 (Cymbrowitz), the original bill without the amendments, remained in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
- Capital Funding for Assisted Living Programs: A.1612-A (Magnarelli)/S.6319 (Hannon) would enable ALPs to access Vital Access Provider (VAP) and Health Care Facility Transformation Program funds allocated in this year’s budget. The bill passed the Senate and remained in the Assembly Health Committee.
- Integration of Individuals with TBI: A.1425 (Jenne)/S.517 (Young) would allow the integration of individuals with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained after the age of 21 into programs within the developmental disabilities service sector. The bill passed the Senate and remained in the Assembly Health Committee.
- TBI/NHTD Carve-out of Medicaid Managed Care: A.2442 (Gottfried)/S.1870 (Hannon) would make the two-year delay of the transition of the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Nursing Home Transition and Diversion (NHTD) waivers into Medicaid managed care a permanent carve-out. The bill passed the Senate and remained in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
- Role of the Nurse in Adult Care Facilities: A.2736-A (Gottfried)/S.4398-A (Hannon) would allow all ACFs and assisted living providers that employ nurses the option to provide nursing services directly. The bill remained in the Assembly and Senate Health Committees.
- CCRC Revitalization Act: A.6450 (Schimminger)/S.5172 (Hannon) would reform Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) laws and regulatory oversight, eliminating many of the current barriers to developing, expanding, and efficiently operating CCRCs in New York State. The bill remained in the Assembly and Senate Health Committees.
- Independent Senior Housing Resident Freedom of Choice Act: A.6341 (Cymbrowitz)/S.535 (Young) 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. The bill remained in the Assembly and Senate Aging Committees.
- Staffing Ratios: A.1532 (Gunther)/S.3330 (Hannon) would create specific staffing ratios for nurses and other direct care staff in hospitals and nursing homes at a cost of approximately $1.06 billion to nursing homes statewide. LeadingAge NY is strongly opposed to this legislation. The bill remained in the Assembly Codes and Senate Health Committees and will likely be taken up again next year. Thank you to all those who took part in advocacy initiatives throughout the year to help us defeat it!
Last Chance to Register for Save HUD 202 Rally
There is still time to register for LeadingAge National’s Save HUD 202 Rally in Washington, DC! The event, co-hosted by Selfhelp Community Services, will be held this coming Tues., June 27th from 1-2 pm on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol (Upper Senate Park). Over 1,000 advocates, including LeadingAge NY staff, are expected to participate. Help us send a strong message to lawmakers that homes provided by HUD’s Section 202 program must be preserved, fully funded, and expanded to meet the affordable housing needs of older adults. More information about the rally is available here.
All participants must register in advance. If you have not yet registered, you can do so here. Please let us know if you are planning to attend.
If you are unable to attend the rally in person, there are still plenty of ways to get involved. Numerous resources to help you engage on social media and promote the Save HUD 202 campaign are available here. In addition, LeadingAge National will be live streaming the rally on Facebook and is asking advocates to join its online “Thunderclap.” A Thunderclap is a one-time posting on social media. All you need to do is sign up, and at 1 pm on the day of the rally, a message about the Save HUD 202 campaign will automatically be posted on the social media platform of your choice. It’s quick, easy, and powerful! Join LeadingAge NY and sign up for the Thunderclap here.
Action Alert: Urge Your Congressional Representative to Support Nursing Home Regulatory Reform
Attention all nursing home members! Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) has extended the deadline for soliciting signatures in support of his letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding regulatory reform until the end of next week. The letter specifically asks CMS to suspend implementation and enforcement of Phases II and III of the final Requirements of Participation (RoPs) rule issued in September 2016 and requests that CMS give nursing homes adequate time to prepare for whatever parts of the rule are ultimately implemented.
Please contact your congressional representative TODAY and ask him or her to join the letter. As of this week, only three representatives have signed on: Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI), and Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY). CMS has expressed interest in reviewing parts of the new rule, but it is important for them to know that members of Congress are aware of the issue and support these efforts.
To sign onto the letter, lawmakers should contact Vincent Giglierano in Rep. Grothman's office at Vincent.Giglierano@mail.house.gov or 202-225-2476.
Senate GOP Unveils ACA Replacement Bill
On Thursday morning, Senate Republicans released the first draft of their Affordable Care Act (ACA) replacement bill. Titled the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), the bill, which resembles the House-backed American Health Care Act (AHCA), would strike the largest parts of the ACA, end Medicaid as an open-ended entitlement, and give states the ability to waive the ACA’s insurance requirements. Click here for a summary of the key provisions. LeadingAge National’s statement on the bill is also available here.
Governor Cuomo Announces Series of Expert Health Care Panels
On Thursday, Governor Cuomo announced a series of panels and community roundtables, to be held across the state, on how the congressional health care proposals could affect New York State. The panels, the first of which was held yesterday at Hofstra University on Long Island, “will feature Cuomo administration officials and experts and will encourage New Yorkers to understand what is at stake and how to best protect their families from upcoming changes to our health care system.” Click here to review the Governor's announcement and here for a fact sheet outlining the AHCA’s potential impacts on the state.
Stay Tuned for Federal Legislative Updates Over Summer and Fall
Lastly, while state lawmakers have returned home for the rest of the year, there is still a flurry of legislative activity on the federal level. Stay tuned for future Legislative Bulletins and updates from LeadingAge NY on the Republican health care bill, HUD funding, and more!
In the meantime, if you have questions or would like to discuss any advocacy initiatives, please feel free to contact the Advocacy and Public Policy team at 518-867-8383.
Contacts:
Ami Schnauber, aschnauber@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8854
Jeff Diamond, jdiamond@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8821