Governor Vetoes Home Care In-Service Training Legislation
On Dec. 6th, Governor Cuomo vetoed two bills relating to Medicaid and home health care workers. The first, A.7854 (Gottfried)/S.5605 (Rivera), a bill that LeadingAge NY actively supported, would have required the New York State Home Care Worker Registry to include a record detailing each in-service training received, and hours completed, by a home care worker. In his veto message, the Governor stated that listing a home care worker's total in-service training hours would not impact the number of hours each agency is required to provide to its employees and could unintentionally cause confusion as to whether an agency provided all required training to an individual. Further, the Governor argued that mandating the inclusion of this information in the registry would require system changes and maintenance that would result in unbudgeted costs, and that the bill should therefore be considered as part of the budget process.
The second bill vetoed by the Governor was A.7578-A (Gottfried)/S.5485-A (Rivera), which would have required that Medicaid coverage be automatically renewed for certain individuals unless there had been a finding of lack of eligibility for Medicaid. Although the Governor appreciated the intent of simplifying Medicaid enrollment procedures, he indicated that the bill raised serious concerns. The Governor's veto message states that by seeking to authorize Medicaid services without a check for eligibility, the proposed language runs contrary to federal law that requires the State to demonstrate financial eligibility prior to obtaining or renewing Medicaid coverage and could therefore jeopardize federal financial participation in the program. The veto message in its entirety can be viewed here.
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871