DOH Convenes Work Group to Implement Legislation Enabling Medicaid-Eligible ALP Residents to Access Hospice
Members may recall that LeadingAge NY has been working for years to change longstanding policy that prohibits a Medicaid-eligible assisted living program (ALP) resident from accessing hospice care. During the last legislative session, we were successful in getting bill A.4016 (Raga)/S.1349 (Rivera) passed, which authorizes residents of ALPs to receive hospice services and directs the Commissioner of Health to convene a working group to make recommendations as to coordination and division of services, responsibilities, and reimbursement. The bill was signed by the Governor, with some agreed-upon chapter amendments stipulating that it is subject to federal financial participation.
LeadingAge NY has been selected to serve on a work group convened by the Department of Health (DOH) to address the requirements in the legislation. The first of five meetings is scheduled for March 14th. LeadingAge NY will report to members the developments of this work group and will seek member feedback to inform our efforts. We look forward to resolving this longstanding access issue.
Contact: Diane Darbyshire, ddarbyshire@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8828