News and Updates
May 25, 2010
Senator Valesky and Assemblywoman Destito Introduce Bill to Protect Rural Home Health
State Senator David Valesky (D-Oneida) and Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito (D-Rome) have introduced HCA-developed legislation (S.7916/A.11170) that would block $6.7 million in damaging cuts to local county-government-sponsored home health providers.
The state Department of Health recently proposed a rule to enact cuts to county home care programs administratively, circumventing the legislative process and threatening the survival of home health services in many counties throughout rural and upstate New York.
Read the press release.
May 24, 2010
HCA Conference Packs Three Days of Learning, Networking, New Ideas
HCA's 2010 Annual Conference concluded on Friday, May 21 in Saratoga Springs, capping three packed days of learning, idea development, uplifting speakers, networking opportunities with vendors and colleagues, as well as some fun and festivity, in keeping with the circus-themed title of this year's event: Home Care —The Greatest Show on Earth.
Read more about the Conference, download HCA's May 21 edition of ASAP, our weekly newsletter.
April 16, 2010
HCA Makes D.C. Advocacy Sweep in Visits with Congress, White House
Senator Gillibrand addresses HCA members at the U.S. Capitol, voicing strong commitment on TPL solution
A reception with U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and New York Congressional Delegation staff; an HCA meeting on home care issues at the White House; legislative visits by HCA members to Delegation offices; HCA's Board of Directors meeting at the U.S. Capitol ... HCA held a packed federal advocacy schedule in Washington, D.C. this week — efforts all aimed at support for New York home care.
Learn more about HCA's federal advocacy by downloading our briefing document.
March 24, 2010
HCA Continues Budget Advocacy With Web Ads
As negotiations over the state budget continue to advance, HCA presses forward with our public advocacy campaign through online ads on news blogs frequently viewed by state legislators and their staff.
The ads will begin appearing tomorrow.
With the State Budget deadline a little more than a week away, the Legislature will likely soon begin the process of convening conference committees to hammer out a final agreement on the state's fiscal plan.
March 23, 2010
State Senate Passes Budget Resolution
Plan calls for maintaining most of Governor's planned cuts
The State Senate last night passed its one-house budget resolution, which establishes the Senate's stance on key components of the budget. Though non-binding, the resolution is expected to officially kick-off public budget negotiations with the Assembly, which is also soon expected to issue a one-house resolution stating its intent relative to the budget.
The Senate's resolution calls for rejecting the Governor's proposed increase to the home care gross receipts tax (GRT). It also calls for changes to the proposed personal care cap. Otherwise, the resolution largely accepts most of the other home care proposals advanced under Governor Paterson's Executive State Budget.
HCA has provided further details to the membership via E-alert and will provide more information in this week's ASAP.
March 10, 2010
NY Legislative Leaders Voice Support for Home Care on Advocacy Day
HCA posts video clips of today's event on Youtube
Several of the state's top legislative leaders and health care policymakers spoke at HCA's 2010 State Advocacy Day today, March 10, to voice their support for home care.
In their remarks to home care advocates gathering in Albany today, legislators discussed ongoing budget negotiations and applauded the home care community for advancing alternative cost-savings legislation.
The legislators also noted the disproportionate impact of proposed cuts on home care, along with the cumulative effect of unfunded mandates and overly aggressive state Medicaid audit practices on provider stability.
Click here to see video clips of each legislator's remarks online.
March 4, 2010
Check Out HCA's New Advocacy Day Publication Home Care Efficiency
HCA has completed this year's edition of our 2010 Advocacy Day publication highlightin g the importance of home care, our arguments against proposed cuts, data on the fiscal condition of home care, HCA's alternative budget proposals, and other important articles.
The 20-page publication is entitled Home Care Efficiency: An Opportunity to Create, Not Cut.
As its title implies, the central message of Home Care Efficiency is that $155 million in home care cuts inflict undue harm to the very system which saves Medicaid dollars — a system which should be seen as the solution to our state's budget challenges.
In addition, Home Care Efficiency underscores the home care community’s efforts to offer creative fiscal solutions, which we urge the Legislature to embrace in place of destructive cuts.
Download Home Care Efficiency here.
Register for HCA's Advocacy Day here.
February 25, 2010
HCA Board Member Joseph Twardy Brings TPL Issue to CBS 6 News
HCA Board Member Joseph Twardy, President and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Service (VNS) of Schenectady and Saratoga Counties, appeared in a television news report today by the Capital Region's CBS 6 News to discuss the impact on providers of the expiration of NewYork's Third Party Liability (TPL) Demonstration Project.
The second installment of a two-part series, entitled "Medicaid Who Pays," today's segment delves into the process by which Medicare and Medicaid determine payment responsibility when a patient is dually-eligible, meaning that they are covered by both programs.
View the clip here.
February 9, 2010
HCA Testifies on Impact of $155M in State Budget Cuts to Home Care
Home Care Association of New York State (HCA) Board Member Michelle Mazzacco, Vice President/Director of Troy-based Eddy Visiting Nurse Association (VNA), today delivered testimony on behalf of HCA before a joint hearing of the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees where she described the impact of $155 million in proposed state budget cuts on a home care system already destabilized by over $300 million in cuts just since April 2008.
"Today, my agency serves patients with increasingly complex clinical needs at home," Ms. Mazzacco said. "Without home care, most of these patients would be hospitalized more often, experience much longer hospital stays, and would more likely need nursing-home care as their health, cognitive, or physical condition deteriorated — all at a much higher cost to Medicaid."
"Yet in spite of home care's proven cost-effectiveness, and its success in managing complex health conditions, a legion of past Medicaid cuts has left many providers in dire economic distress," Ms. Mazzacco said in her testimony
»Download the testimony
»Read the Press Release
January 19, 2010
Statement by HCA on Proposed State Budget
"New York's home care system is already in serious financial peril, due to past reimbursement cuts that have left 67 percent of agencies operating in the red. An alarming 44 percent of home care providers must borrow money simply to meet daily operating expenses and fulfill their mission to New York's most vulnerable.
"The over $147 million in new state-and-federal-share home care cuts proposed by Governor Paterson in today's budget — on top of over $300 million in cuts already enacted since April 2008 — would add to these pressures, further destabilizing New York's home care safety net by making it even more difficult for providers to continue serving patients without racking up enormous losses, tumbling further into debt, cutting staff, or resorting to the elimination of programs.
»Read the full statement
January 7, 2010
HCA Delivers Testimony at Hearing on OMIG
HCA General Counsel Mark Thomas delivered testimony today before the New York State Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations regarding activities by the state Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG).
In a joint statement to the media, HCA President Joanne Cunningham and Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) President Dan Sisto said the Associations agree with the OMIG's efforts to ensure the integrity of the state Medicais system.
"However, it is our view that OMIG has veered sharply from its original intended mission to protect New York's Medicaid program," the Association presidents said. "Instead, it has begun to lean heavily on often-conflicting technical interpretations of statute and minor or insignificant documentation errors to exact enormous Medicaid payment recoveries for services that providers dutifully rendered to patients who were eligible for the care they needed and ultimately received."
»Read the full statement
January 6, 2010
HCA Responds to
Governor Paterson's State of the State Address
HCA President Joanne Cunningham today said: "Despite the many significant health issues affecting New Yorkers and the state's health care delivery system, today's State of the State Address provided no real details about the Governor's health care priorities for the coming year. It appears that citizens of the state and the health care community will have to wait for the Executive Budget proposal or Executive program bills to learn more about the Governor's health care plans for the coming year."
»Read the full statement
December 18, 2009
NY Times Publishes HCA Letter on Health Reform
The New York Times today published a letter to the editor by HCA President Joanne Cunningham on federal health reform. She writes: "Home health care has received much attention lately as part of the national health reform debate ... these services are a vital component of the health system, caring for the elderly, people with disabilities and the chronically ill, and helping patients avoid higher cost service use, like acute-care emergency room visits, lengthier inpatient stays or premature nursing home admission."
»Read the full letter
December 7, 2009
HCA President Joanne Cunningham on CBS
Evening News National Broadcast
HCA President Joanne Cunningham appeared on the December 6 CBS Evening News broadcast to discuss the impact of proposed home health care cuts as part of national health reform efforts.
»View the clip online
December 2, 2009
Statement by HCA on Legislature's Passage of Deficit-Reduction Plan
"The Senate and Assembly have passed a deficit-reduction bill that scales back many of the Governor's proposed home care cuts. Nevertheless, the home care community remains concerned about the future sustainability of services under the Governor's claim that more cuts are still needed."
»Read More
November 5, 2009
HCA/NYAHSA Report Reveals Home Care System Endangered
HCA and New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging (NYAHSA) have released preliminary findings of an alarming statewide report, entitled "Lethal Doses." Among the report's key findings: Two-thirds of home care agencies reported total operating losses across all revenue streams.
»Download the report
»Read the HCA press release announcing the report
October 26, 2009
Times Union Publishes HCA Op-ed
The Capital Region's Times Union today published an op-ed by HCA President Joanne Cunningham on the Governor's proposed state budget cuts. "Home care services are yet again threatened with the state budget ax, with Gov. David Paterson unveiling a deficit-reduction plan that includes a catastrophic $184 million in home care cuts," Ms. Cunningham wrote. "If this plan is fully adopted, total cuts to home care will approach a stunning half billion dollars since April 2008."
»Read the complete op-ed
October 21, 2009
HCA Delivers Testimony on Proposed Budget Cuts to Assembly Committee
HCA Board Member Joseph Twardy, President and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Service of Schenectady and Saratoga Counties, today delivered testimony before the State Assembly Ways and Means Committee on the impact of the Governor's proposed budget cuts to home care.
In the testimony, Mr. Twardy described the cumulative impact of prior budget cuts that, if added to the Governor's new proposal, will approach nearly one-half-billion dollars in state and federal share Medicaid cuts to home care, just since April of 2008.
»Read the complete testimony.
October 20, 2009
With New Plan, Cuts to Home Care Approach One-half Billion since 2008
If the Governor's deficit-reduction plan were to be enacted in its entirety, the home care community will have received nearly one-half billion dollars in state and federal share Medicaid cuts since April 2008, HCA reports.
HCA has prepared a chart illustrating the cumulative impact of home care cuts in the last two years, available here.
October 15, 2009
Governor Proposes Ten-percent Home Care Cut in Deficit-reduction Plan
Governor Paterson today unveiled a deficit-reduction proposal that calls for a ten-percent cut to home care from November 15 to March 31, 2010, for a total impact of $184 million when state and federal shares are combined.
This reduction is part of $286.6 million in proposed state-share Medicaid cuts across all sectors for the final quarter of the current fiscal year ($744.4 million in state/federal shares combined) — cuts the Paterson Administration has said it will also attempt to roll into future fiscal quarters as part of its 2010-11 State Budget proposal anticipated in December.
In response to this week's news, HCA President Joanne Cunningham issued a press statement noting that "Governor Paterson's proposed cuts to home care — which gouges already inadequate funding levels by 10 percent more — will not only destroy services that millions of New Yorkers rely upon, but such cuts are also wholly unnecessary."
Read the complete statement here.
October 13, 2009
Buffalo News Letter to Editor by HCA President on Home Care Cuts
The Buffalo News published a letter by HCA President Joanne Cunningham opposing any new cuts to home care.
In the letter, published on October 10, Ms. Cunningham writes: "It is ironic that the Paterson administration acknowledges its own planned cuts to home care could 'backfire' considering that states that invest in home-and community-based services are proven to offer their citizens the greatest access to long-term care at the lowest cost. Isn't this reason enough to dismiss the cuts before precious time, opportunity and sound policy options are wasted?"
Read the letter in its entirety here.
October 6, 2009
HCA Quoted in Newsday on Home Care Medicare Cuts in Health Reform
HCA was quoted in an October 4 article in Newsday entitled "Lawmakers eye Medicare trims to pay for health overhaul."
In the article, HCA describes the financial fragility of home care in New York State, noting that growth in the number of new certified home health agencies has been capped by a statewide moratorium and, in fact, the state has seen a loss in the number of Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs).
HCA Communications Director Roger Noyes "said Medicare cuts, combined with shrinking state Medicaid funds, could result in more agencies closing," according to the article, which can be found here.
September 8, 2009
HCA's Lexi Silver to Speak at AHRQ Web Conference on Pandemic Flu Planning
HCA Vice President for Policy and Clinical Affairs Lexi Silver will be presenting at a September 23 web conference on pandemic influenza planning sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Entitled Planning for an Influenza Pandemic in the Home Health Care Sector, this free program is designed to showcase resources that can support emergency preparedness planning within the home health care sector, particularly in the face of a potential H1N1 pandemic. Emergency preparedness planners and providers — as well as federal, state, and local community health and home care planners — are all invited to access this free web conference, which begins at 1 p.m.
The September 23 program will feature a 90-minute panel discussion and insights from home health care emergency preparedness planners representing different perspectives. In addition to Ms. Silver, presenters also include: Barbara Citarella, RN, BSN, MS, RBC Limited; Geraldine A. Coyle, RN, EdD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Andrea Hassol, MSPH, Abt Associates; and a representative from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Register here. Learn more here.
August 31, 2009
Rep. Arcuri Joins HCA-Member At Home Care of Oneonta on Home Health Patient Visit to Demonstrate Importance of Medicare Home Health Services
As federal health reform debate continues, Rep. Arcuri calls for support of home health care
Amid Congressional debate over national health care reform, Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-24) today joined staff from At Home Care, an Oneonta-based home health agency, on a visit to the home of 85-year-old patient Francis Pusateri to demonstrate the importance of Medicare home health services.
Mr. Pusateri, a patient of At Home Care, suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure. He has been hospitalized multiple times for respiratory disease in recent months and requires a cane or walker for mobility. So that he can remain safely at home, Mr. Pusateri relies on Medicare-covered in-home physical therapy and nursing services recently ordered by his physician to treat and monitor his chronic condition, and to help end a past cycle of repeat hospitalizations.
Rep. Arcuri said patients like Mr. Pusateri are a testament to the importance of home and community-based services in providing cost-effective, patient-centered care.
"During the past month I've traveled throughout the district to hear constituent views about health care reform," Rep. Arcuri said. "Though opinions are wide ranging, we all can agree that health care can and should be more efficient and that patient choice is paramount. Home and community-based services have already succeeded in living up to these goals. For the sake of patients like Mr. Pusateri who depend on home care, we must protect existing services that are helping patients stay out of the hospital and remain safely in the community"
»Read the press release
August 10, 2009
HCA Board Member Keenan's Letter to Editor of Newsday
HCA Board Member Orael Keenan, CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association of Long Island, had a letter to the editor published in the August 5 edition of Newsday. The letter was a response to the characterizations of home care in a July 24 guest editorial entitled "How will we live at the end of our lives?"
Home care "agencies provide professional and paraprofessional services, including home health aides, skilled nurses, therapists and social workers. Certified agencies are held to rigorous standards," Ms. Keenan wrote. "With day programs for socialization, in-home emergency response systems, and cutting-edge disease-management technology, home care is equipped to provide appropriate care to patients in a setting conducive to health and well-being."
The letter can be read here.
July 29, 2009
HCA Applauds Landmark Managed Care Reform Bill
HCA Board Chair Victoria Hines, President and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Service of Rochester and Monroe County, and HCA President Joanne Cunningham applauded Governor Paterson's signing today of landmark managed care reform legislation.
"The home care community applauds Governor Paterson, Assemblyman Morelle, Senator Breslin and the Legislature as a whole for advancing these critical managed care reforms," Ms. Hines said. "By helping to remove service authorization hurdles that often impede or needlessly delay access to care, this landmark bill allows providers to initiate care urgently needed for patients to return home from the hospital."
»Read More
July 20, 2009
Senate Passes Managed Care Reform Bill With HCA Enhancements
The state Senate on July 16 passed a vital managed care reform bill (S.5472-A), sponsored by Senator Neil Breslin (D-Delmar), that would improve access and coverage for home health and other critical services. Originating as a program bill by Governor Paterson's administration through the State Insurance Department (SID), companion legislation was sponsored by Assemblyman Joseph Morelle (D-Irondequoit) and passed the Assembly on June 23 as A.8402-A.
"Through sensible reforms to the managed care utilization review process, this legislation ensures timely and expeditious authorization for home health services explicitly covered by managed care plans to prevent unnecessary hospitalization or the risk of a worsening health condition when patients return home from the institutional setting," said HCA President Joanne Cunningham.
»Read HCA's press release on the bill
»Learn more about the bill
June 29, 2009
HCA, Rep. Engel & Rep. King Announce Bill to Protect Chronically Ill Patients
HCA, Congressman Eliot Engel (D-17) and Congressman Peter King (R-3) have announced critical legislation that would protect spouses of chronically ill patients from falling into poverty as a result of obtaining needed long term care services for a loved one at home.
Reps. Engel and King's legislation codifies and reasserts Congressional authorization for vital Medicaid budgeting rules called "spousal impoverishment protections." These rules have protected spouses of patients receiving long term care at home in the same way as Congress has protected the spouses of patients in nursing homes. In recent years, these long-standing rules have been reinterpreted and effectively negated by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), even though the spousal protections have been in effect for households in New York State for two decades based on federal law and policy.
»Read More
June 23, 2009
HCA Applauds State Assembly's Passage of Managed Care Reforms
HCA applauds the state Assembly's passage of legislation late last night which embraces an array of long-sought reforms to managed care, including improvements in essential access and coverage for home health care services.
Among many changes that will assist all health care providers, Assembly bill 8402-A contains several home care-specific provisions recommended by HCA to improve patient access to home care, including expedited coverage determinations for hospital dischargees, interim coverage requirements when determinations cannot be made prior to the time of discharge, new expedited appeal rights so that adverse determinations can be immediately reviewed and reconsidered, and others.
"This comprehensive legislation will be helpful to home care providers, hospitals and physicians, but it contains a particular breakthrough for would-be home care patients and providers covered by managed care plans," said HCA President Joanne Cunningham in a statement to the media.
»Read the complete press release
June 8, 2009
HCA Offers Care2Learn Informational Audioconference
On June 24 at 3 p.m., HCA Education and Research will offer a free 30-minute informational audio conference for members on Care2Learn, our new online learning vendor. Non-members can join the conference call for only $10.
The June 24 audio program will review the course catalog offerings, walk listeners through the login process to preview and purchase courses, review a student transcript and highlight other Care2Learn features and benefits. By accessing Care2Learn courses through our website, registrants — both HCA members and non-members — receive a 10-percent discount over the general public. Over 400 Care2Learn courses are available 24/7 for nurses, therapists, operations staff, home health aides, agency leaders and more. Care2Learn is a premier leader in distance learning for the health care field with over 225,000 professionals currently taking its courses across the U.S.
Register for the audioconference by downloading, printing and then faxing in the registration form found here.
May 26, 2009
HCA President Honored with Prestigious Ellen Wood Health Care Award
HCA President Joanne Cunningham was honored this week as the recipient of the prestigious Ellen Wood Health Care Award. This award was conferred by HCA-member Agency Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley on Thursday, May 21 during an awards ceremony in New Rochelle, New York. Leading the ceremony were VNA of Hudson Valley President and CEO Michele Quirolo and Westchester Television 12 Evening News Anchor Janine Rose.
In a journal ad for the awards program, HCA wrote: "We at HCA know firsthand Joanne's unparalleled dedication to New York's home care community through her efforts aimed at protecting the home and community-based health system for patients and their caregivers; her commitment to enhancing the practice and delivery of vital home care services through insightful programming and responsible policy development; and her firm conviction that a patient's needs are best served in the setting of his or her choice."
May 18, 2009
Rep. Murphy Delivers First Health Care Address at HCA's Annual Conference
At the HCA's Annual Conference today in Saratoga Springs, Congressman Scott Murphy (D-20) delivered his first major address on health care as the newest member of New York's Congressional Delegation.
During the address, Congressman Murphy specifically focused on the importance of patient choice in determining the appropriate setting for care.
"We need to be sure we provide choices for people," said Congressman Murphy. "We need to look at how we provide the whole range of services, from institutional settings to assisted living environments to home-based care, where people are living in the same family home they've always lived in and are able to have health care come to them."
»Read More
May 7, 2009
HCA Recognizes National Nurses Week
"In recognition of National Nurses Week (celebrated annually on May 6 to May 12) the Home Care Association of New York State honors the great compassion, wisdom, skill and dedication of professional nurses who form the core of our home care system and the health care system generally," said HCA President Joanne Cunningham.
"Through the historic work of Lillian Wald — who pioneered home care public health nursing in New York's Lower East Side during the late 19th century — to the extraordinary efforts of today's visiting nurse professionals, millions of our state and nation's sickest and most vulnerable patients have received needed care at home with dignity and solace, having spent less time in health facilities, and having recuperated quicker from illness or injury.
"The home care nurse merits special tribute. An extraordinary level of skill and undaunted independence is needed to care for patients outside the controlled environment of health facilities, without immediate backup support from peers, and with only the tools one carries to the home visit. The home environment is often a place in flux, where the complexities of family life and the patient's physical surroundings interact in ways that the home care nurse must anticipate and factor into any clinical assessment."
»Read the complete statement
May 7, 2009
HCA Responds on MTA Bailout Plan
"The recently negotiated MTA bailout package slams home care and other providers with yet another regressive tax, this time through a capricious payroll assessment that takes a cut from wages paid to employees," said HCA President Joanne Cunningham.
"This new tax is yet another indiscriminate levy at the expense of critical health care services — not unlike the health care gross receipts tax (GRT) imposed on home health care providers and patients in this year's State Budget.
"As a result of this week's MTA bailout, home care providers in the New York Metropolitan region are now slapped with a two-way toll: a GRT on incoming revenue for vital patient services, followed up with a payroll tax on the back-end for employee wages."
»Read the complete statement
March 20, 2009
HCA Proposes "Federal-State Medicare Shared Savings Partnership"
Crain's Health Pulse today reported on HCA's "Federal-State Medicare Shared Savings Partnership" proposal. The proposed Partnership is intended to provide a financial incentive/return to the state for initiatives that result in savings to Medicare, and, hence, the federal government.
As stated in Crain's, "Under the plan, home care providers would collaborate with physicians, hospitals, and other providers and the state on initiatives to reduce costly medical services. The Medicare savings generated would be deposited into a special fund that could be tapped to support the state's Medicaid program."
HCA President Joanne Cunningham was quoted as saying that the Partnership "offers yet another constructive solution for supporting the state Medicaid program," as opposed to draconian funding cuts.
HCA's Partnership initiative is part of our "Home Care Accessibility and Efficiency Improvement Act" (HCA-EIA), comprehensive legislation HCA has drafted and offered to state lawmakers in an effort to offer viable ideas for increasing health care efficiency and capturing additional state revenue amid this year's State Budget crunch.
Learn more about the impact of the state budget on home care by downloading HCA's On the Edge publication.
March 16, 2009
Join HCA in Voicing NY Home Care Concerns on Federal Advocacy Day
HCA's Federal Advocacy Day is just around the corner, on March 23 and 24 in Washington, D.C. — a critical opportunity to bring New York's many home care priorities and concerns to the attention of Congress.
As in past years, HCA's federal program coincides with the National Association for Home Care and Hospice's annual March on Washington and Law Symposium. HCA urges member participation in our Advocacy Day program as providers from around the nation converge at the nation's capital to resist proposed Medicare home health payment reductions and other adverse reimbursement policies.
The President's fiscal year 2010 Budget proposes a five-year freeze (2010 to 2014) on the Medicare home health market basket update. A 2010 freeze on the market basket would be the second payment freeze in a five-year period, since the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 also eliminated the full home health market basket update (3.6 percent) in 2006. The Administration's fiscal year 2010 Budget is also proposing to accelerate the 2.71 percent "case-mix creep" adjustment for 2011 to take effect in 2010 on top of the 2.75 percent adjustment already planned, which would further reduce payments to New York's home health agencies by $40 million in 2010.
All told, the five-year market basket freeze and "case-mix creep" adjustment will cut approximately $13 billion from the Medicare home health benefit.
With a new Administration in Washington, changing leadership at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the need for incoming CMS administrators to newly examine prior-Administration regulations and policies, this year is a prime opportunity to take part in HCA's coordinated federal advocacy efforts on March 23 and 24, particularly considering the large number of New York-specific issues and concerns that warrant attention from Congress and policymakers in President Obama's Administration.
These New York-specific areas of focused advocacy revolve around federal oversight of the state Medicaid program, particularly as it pertains to CMS. Among these issues is continuation of the Third Party Liability (TPL) Demonstration and the renewal of New York's Long Term Home Health Care Program (LTHHCP) waiver with the waiver's protection of existing spousal-budgeting provisions.
We hope you will join us on March 23 and 24 in reinforcing the need for:
- Fair and reasonable Medicare payment policies;
- Preservation of spousal-budgeting for patients in the LTHHCP and renewal of New York's LTHHCP waiver application;
- Reauthorization of New York's Third Party Liability (TPL) Demonstration — an effective payment reconciliation program for home health services provided to dual-eligible Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. (The program lapsed in September 2007);
- Reinstatement of rural add-on monies; and
- Several other top-priority federal issues affecting New York home care.
Click here to register for HCA's 2009 Federal Advocacy Day.
February 25, 2009
Legislators Voice Strong Support for Home Care on HCA's Advocacy Day
The home care community converged at the State Capitol on Wednesday for HCA's 2009 Legislative Advocacy Day, where HCA members met with Senate and Assembly representatives from their communities to urge rejection of the Governor's nearly $475 million in proposed home care funding cuts and restructuring initiatives.
In addition to the hundred of visits conducted by HCA members, HCA staff and members of our Board of Directors met with health care leaders from both houses of the Legislature to further press for home care's interests in budget negotiations.
Recognizing the home care community's role in providing a vital safety net for patients, as well as the severe impact of Governor Paterson's budget proposals on home care services, several of the state's top legislative leaders addressed advocates during a special reception held as part of HCA's Advocacy Day program.
Speakers at HCA's reception included Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari (D-Cohoes), Senate Health Committee Chairman Tom Duane (D-Manhattan), Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan), and Senator Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington).
Read what legislators had to say about home care by downloading HCA's press release.
February 23, 2009
HCA Publication Highlights State Budget Cuts
HCA has prepared a magazine-format publication for distribution during our February 25 Advocacy Day called On the Edge: Unprecedented State Budget Cuts Threaten NY's Home Care System.
The purpose of this publication is two-fold: to help further educate policymakers and the public about the purpose and design of New York's home care system, and to convey the catastrophic impact of the proposed State Budget cuts on the ability of providers to effectively serve patients.
On the Edge describes the home care budget cuts in detail as well as some of HCA's alternative solutions for improving health care in a cost-effective manner. Our publication also contains HCA-member submitted stories that convey the human side of home care and show just how high the stakes are for patients in need of home and community-based services.
»Download On the Edge
February 9, 2009
AP Examines Proposed State Budget Cuts to Home Care
The Associated Press (AP) ran a story today on the Governor's proposed cuts to home care, noting: "The trend of moving more patients from hospitals and nursing homes into less expensive home care treatment faces potential budget cuts in New York despite its potential to save government millions of Medicaid dollars."
The story, which ran in several news outlets throughout New York State, included an interview with David Senecal, a patient at HCA-member agency Visiting Nurse Association of Albany, Saratoga, Rensselaer. Mr. Senecal has quadriplegia, having injured his spinal cord when he was 13. In 1980 "he was able to get home care and for the first time since the accident, felt independent," the report states.
The story also quotes HCA President Joanne Cunningham, who described the devastating proposed home care cuts, and said: "Today's home care patient 20 years ago would be in the hospital or nursing home."
Read the article online.
February 2, 2009
HCA Testifies at Legislative Hearing on State Budget
In testimony presented today to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees, the Home Care Association of New York State (HCA) urged the Legislature's rejection of Governor Paterson's half-billion dollars in proposed funding cuts and changes to the infrastructure of home care delivery.
HCA's testimony was delivered by Victoria Hines, Vice Chair of HCA's Board of Directors and President and CEO of HCA-member agency Visiting Nurse Service of Rochester and Monroe County.
In the testimony, Ms. Hines describes the cumulative impact of a half-billion in direct reimbursement cuts coupled with far-reaching changes to the home care delivery system that have the potential to eliminate vital services for persons seeking care at home as a less costly alternative to institutional care.
"HCA cannot emphasize enough our vehement opposition to the Governor's proposals and our plea to you to reject them for the sake of the patients and their families, and the survival of the system," Ms. Hines added. "Nothing less is at stake, as this Budget would crush a system designed to meet the fundamental needs of patients at the same time that it functionally contributes to the state's overall cost-reduction efforts by averting the need for premature, unnecessary — or unnecessarily lengthy — facility-based care."
»Download HCA's testimony
January 26, 2009
HCA Mentioned in NY Times Article on Spousal Budgeting
Two HCA members were mentioned in a New York Times article that focuses on a federal reinterpretation of spousal budgeting rules as they pertain to patients in the Long Term Home Health Care Program.
The Jan. 24 report, entitled "Change in Rules May Pose Stark Choice for the Chronically Ill," describes the services provided by HCA member agency Jewish Home Lifecare's Long Term Home Health Care Program to a patient whose monthly household income would be reduced significantly under a recent federal reinterpretation of Medicaid spousal budgeting rules.
Valerie Bogart, Director of the Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program of HCA Member Selfhelp Community Services, was also quoted in the article, which can be found on the Times' website.
In response to the article, HCA President Joanne Cunningham had a letter to the editor published on the Times' website in which she stated: "Painful enough is the heartbreak that couples feel when one spouse falls chronically ill. So as not to worsen the pain, President Obama must strike a Bush-era reinterpretation of federal law that would force New York couples to make a harsh choice: Either live together in poverty while obtaining needed care at home, or else admit the ailing spouse into a nursing home, in which case Medicaid would protect more of the couple's income for the spouse living in the community."
January 13, 2009
HCA Joins Historic Coalition of Health Care Providers in Calling on State Leaders to use FMAP Funds for Medicaid Purposes Only
HCA President Joanne Cunningham today joined a coalition of twelve health care associations in a press conference — organized by the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) — calling on the state Legislature to ensure that any increase in federal Medicaid funding be used solely for Medicaid health care services.
The federal government is expected to pass a stimulus package shortly that is anticipated to include up to $5 billion in increased federal Medicaid funding for New York State. HCA and eleven other statewide health care provider and patient advocacy organizations joined together in Albany to protect these health care dollars from being used for non-health care purposes.
In a joint association press release issued to the media, Ms. Cunningham said, "The Governor's latest health care cuts pack a double punch. Every reimbursement dollar cut from the state's Medicaid program takes two dollars away from vital services for patients. The Governor is right to seek additional federal relief through a Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) increase, as long as any new funding meets its intended use, and doesn't deliver a third punch to our health care system by being diverted elsewhere."
»Download the full press release |
