Legislative Bulletin: LeadingAge Advocacy Issues in the Press

This week, the Governor and Comptroller announced a $2.3 billion revenue shortfall, making the pursuit of a balanced budget all the more challenging. With the loss in revenue, your advocacy is vital in opposing the looming budget cuts to long term care.

Urgent Action Required for Case-Mix Cut Opposition!

The single largest cut proposed in the Executive Budget would alter how nursing home Medicaid rates are adjusted for acuity. The state expects the provision to save the state $122.8 Million annually, suggesting a provider impact of $245.6 million. While the impact will vary from home to home, on average it would reduce Medicaid rates by more than $9 per day. To assist members in estimating the potential impact of the cut on their home, LeadingAge New York has developed a CMI Cut Estimator.

In the next few days, individual legislators will be finalizing their budget priorities and communicating them to the leadership of their conference. Now is a key time for all members to contact their State Senators and Members of Assembly to urge them to oppose this cut! We are asking all LeadingAge New York nursing home providers to send a letter to their legislator, asking them to oppose the cut and write to their conference leadership.

To contact your legislator:

Save and personalize this CMI Cut Letter. We recommend saving to company letterhead, if possible.
Save this sample Leader Letter. Please do not edit this letter as consistency in message is key.
Send an email to your legislator with both letters attached, urging them to write to their conference leadership.

Legislative contact information is available here:

Assembly: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/

Senate: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators-committees (select your senator, then click “Contact” to view office and e-mail address)

While we are optimistic that Legislators are beginning to hear our message, please keep in mind that the State’s finances are not good and that many other interests are competing with health care for funding and legislators’ support. To be successful, we must continue to educate and remind policymakers how devastating this cut would be. Please join us in this effort.

Ask your Legislators to Invest in Workforce and WIN4Seniors

It is not news to our membership that there has been a growing and compounding workforce crisis in the long-term care industry, across the board. The inability to hire sufficient aides and professionals has resulted in long waiting lists for certain community-based services, inability to fill authorized home care hours, inability to admit nursing home residents with complex medical conditions and/or high supervision needs, and reliance on overtime and staffing agencies.

In considering this crisis, LeadingAge New York has created the Workforce Investment Now for Seniors, WIN4Seniors, campaign – a campaign drawing attention to the severe workforce shortage and other regulatory issues putting strain on LTC providers. With this campaign, LeadingAge New York is asking that the governor and/or state legislature appropriate $50 million in the budget to support initiatives to train, recruit, and retain the LTPAC workforce, reject the requirement that home care aides obtain NPI numbers and fully fund, expedite, and improve the criminal history record check process.

You can take action now and urge your lawmakers to invest in LTPAC workforce recruitment, retention, and training in this year’s budget. Click here to send your legislator a message!

LeadingAge NY Advocacy Issues in the Press

In a piece published by The Post-Journal this week, LeadingAge New York board member Jeremy Rutter reflected on his Advocacy Day meetings and the state of long term care as it faces deep cuts to funding and hefty regulations. In the article, Jeremy expresses gratitude to his region’s representatives, Assemblyman Andy Goodell and Senator Cathy Young. The article highlights big battles the industry is facing and informs the public that “the nursing home industry in general is the second most regulated in the country behind nuclear power plants”.

The article is a powerful example of bringing advocacy back to the district and raising awareness of issues facing long term are. We encourage LeadingAge New York membership to look for new opportunities to continue advocacy in your region. Press is a great way to catch the attention of lawmakers, whether it be a formal article or a simple press release. You could also invite your legislators to visit your organization for an event and invite the press to capture the moment!

There is not one single way to advocate. While meetings in Albany and in the district can be substantive, it is also important to build relationships with your legislators outside of the meeting room – at events, on social media and in the press.

February Advocacy Day Recap

Over 70 attendees from long term care provider organizations across the state hustled about the state capital on Tuesday for the first of two LeadingAge New York Advocacy Days. Over the course of the day, advocate members of LeadingAge, the Adult Day HealthCare Council and the Hospice and Palliative Care Association attended over 50 meeting with law makers. The priority issue in each meeting was case-mix and the response from legislators was largely supportive, many agreeing to send letters to leadership in opposition of the massive cuts. Other key issues of the day included staffing ratios, proposed cuts to managed long term care, the WIN4Seniors Campaign and capital funding for LTPAC providers, assisted living and hospice.

If you missed this month’s Advocacy Day but are concerned about the issues impacting your organization, we strongly encourage you and your colleagues to schedule meetings with lawmakers in your district. Advocacy Day Materials are still available online and are great tools in educating your legislators.

You can also visit our Advocacy page or click any of the below links to urge your legislator to act today:

LeadingAge NY Testifies at Health and Medicaid Budget Hearing

Tuesday, February 5^th was a busy day for LeadingAge New York. As policy and executive staff joined provider members on advocacy meetings throughout the day, the breaks between these meetings were spent listening in to the Health and Medicaid Budget Hearing in Hearing Room A of the Legislative Office Building (LOB).

The hearing kicked off with testimony from York State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker and Medicaid Director Donna Frescatore. The agencies highlighted that Medicaid services offered throughout New York are currently under federal assault and on that point praised the governor and legislature for their actions enshrining programs such as the Reproductive Healthcare Act (RHA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into state law. The agencies then stressed the need for action on water protections, cigarette and e- cigarette regulations, and universal access to healthcare.

However, when asked about the unexpected 2.3-billion-dollar state budget shortfall, DOH suggested that they weren’t entirely sure how the loss of dollars would affect their budgets and that they needed more information. Senator Hoylman and others showed concern that Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Financial Services (DFS) had placed money in their budgets expecting a 3.6% increase in Medicaid funding despite the shortfall.

While the specifics of how the shortfall will impact Health and Medicaid budgets remain to be seen, the public testimony that followed the Commissioner highlighted concerns with the budget as it currently stands - including the massive looming Medicaid cut to case-mix. Throughout the hearing, Senators, Assembly Members, and advocates alike expressed concerns about the magnitude of the cut and what consequences would ensue. LeadingAge New York submitted thorough written testimony, and President and CEO, Jim Clyne, testified in person. Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein asked Jim to clarify the budget language related to EISEP. A clip of Jim’s testimony can be viewed here.

A New Strategy on Safe Staffing Legislation

While nurse staffing ratios is not likely to be handled in the budget, the issue is sure to be fiercely debated on the Senate and Assembly floor with the reintroduction of the “Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act” (A.2954/S.1032). In the midst of a shortage of nurses and an LTC workforce crisis, the bill would create specific staffing ratios for nurses and other direct-care staff in hospitals and nursing homes. LeadingAge New York opposed this legislation in 2018 and, with a new Senate Democratic Majority, it will need to be opposed vigorously this year.

While our position on the bill remains the same, it is important that we recognize the change in power in the legislature and the general bi-partisan support of this bill. There are more than 90 Democrats signed on to the bill and if your legislator is one of them, it is unlikely that they would reverse their position. That said, constituents vocalizing their concerns and educating lawmakers on what the impact would be is critical in preventing the bill from moving forward as is. With the change of power in the Senate, your voice, experience and message must be heard by your legislators now!

You can send your legislator a message now, urging them to oppose the bill and consider the impact of staffing ratios on nursing home providers in their district.

2019 Joint Budget Schedule for Joint Budget Adoption:

February 28 (on or before) - Senate & Assembly Economic / Revenue Forecast Released

February 28 - Joint Revenue Forecasting Conference

March 1 (on or before) - Consensus Revenue Forecast Report

March 13 - Senate & Assembly One House Budget Actions

March 13 - Joint Senate & Assembly Budget Conference Committees Commence

March 25 - Joint Conference Committees End

March 26-29 - Joint Legislative Budget Bills Taken Up by Senate & Assembly

Ami Schnauber, aschnauber@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8854

Sarah Daly, sdaly@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8845