DOH Issues DAL and Survey Regarding Home Care Minimum Wage in the ALP
The Department of Health (DOH) has distributed a survey aimed at collecting the number of Medicaid home health aide (HHA)/personal care aide (PCA) hours provided by Assisted Living Programs (ALPs) for the purpose of calculating reimbursement for the home care minimum wage increase. The data collected in the DOH survey will be used to calculate reimbursement for the Medicaid proportion for your aide hours. Please note that unlike previous surveys that collected hours by wage band and provided funding only if existing wages were below the new minimum wage, this survey collects all Medicaid hours. The State intends to provide funding for all of these hours, regardless of the wage currently being paid. Because of this, it is critical that all programs complete the survey, including those that pay their aides wages that are above the new aide minimum wage.
The Dear Administrator Letter (DAL), survey, and attestation were sent directly to member ALPs by DOH and LeadingAge NY initially on Fri., Sept. 30th. It was discovered that cells related to “percentage of hours allocated to Medicaid ALP” were locked in the spreadsheet, however. Thus, an updated spreadsheet was distributed on Mon., Oct. 3rd; please be sure to refer to that version.
Members should review the instructions carefully and reach out to DOH or to us if you have questions. We have worked closely with the Department to help ensure that the data is collected as accurately as possible and the instructions are clear, but please let us know if you encounter any difficulties completing the survey. The turnaround time is short, with both the survey and the attestation certifying accuracy due by Oct. 14th.
Please note that the statutory requirement to increase the hourly wage for HHAs/PCAs by $2 above the regular minimum wage (i.e., $17 downstate, $15.20 upstate) goes into effect on Oct. 1, 2022, even though reimbursement to ALP providers will be provided later than that (but retroactive to Oct. 1st).
The message from DOH is copied below, and attachments are linked below:
Dear Medicaid Provider,
Public Health Law 3614-f establishes a $2.00 increase for Home Care Aide workers beginning October 1, 2022.
The Department is administering a survey to capture Home Care Aide workers information as it relates to each ALP facility. Please review the attached survey instructions and complete the attestation document and survey (October 2022 Home Care Aide Wage Increase template). Note that the survey collects hourly data, not wages, making it critical that all ALPs complete the survey using hourly data. Additionally – all Medicaid ALPs providers with Home Care Aide hours should be completing this survey. The completed documents are due to the Department by October 14, 2022.
If you have any questions regarding the Home Care Aide Wage Survey (as included in this communication), please send an email with the subject line ALP October 2022 Home Care Aide Wage Increase to ALP-Rates@health.ny.gov.
If you have questions, or need information about the Home Care Aide Wage Increase, contact the Department of Labor at www.labor.ny.gov/minimumwage or call: 1-888-469-7365.
Contact: Diane Darbyshire, ddarbyshire@leadingageny.org, or Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org. Both can be reached at 518-867-8383.