Take Action to Ensure Access to Quality Nursing Home Care for Older Adults!

(Mar. 13, 2026) LeadingAge NY is calling on Governor Hochul and the Legislature to prioritize the care of older adults and individuals living with complex medical conditions by adequately funding – and ensuring access to – high-quality nursing home care. NY is experiencing a wave of nursing home closures and bed reductions because nursing home Medicaid rates are too low. This is limiting the choices available to older adults, delaying hospital discharges, and causing gridlock in hospitals.

This can be accomplished in the FY 2026-27 State Budget, by:​​​​​​​

• Ensuring that at least $750M of proposed hospital and nursing home investment is allocated to nursing home care;
• Targeting funding to promote and reward better staffing and support lower-paid homes that are at most financial risk; 
• Supporting the Executive’s restoration of the 10% cut capital reimbursement for nursing homes, and restoring the remaining 5%, which is especially important to pediatric facilities;
• Authorizing certified medication aides (CMAs) in nursing homes; and
• Updating minimum staffing level provisions to allow nurses to satisfy aide hours and count critical therapy staff.

These actions are critical to ensure sustainable access to high-quality nursing home care for older adults and others.

Your voice matters, and now is a great time to contact Governor Hochul and State Legislators! We need all nursing home members and advocates to help vocalize your support for these critical budget requests.

Take action TODAY to urge Governor Hochul and the Legislature to ensure access to quality nursing home care for older adults:

1. Send this digital advocacy letter, written from a provider leadership perspective (CEO, COO, CFO, Administrator). Members are strongly encouraged to customize this letter with any details you would like. You can do so by simply editing the content available in the text box.
2. Amplify our message by including others in our digital letter-writing campaign. LeadingAge NY has created the below digital letter-writing campaigns, written from the perspective of different stakeholders. We strongly encourage members to share these links with staff, board members, residents, family members, etc. This is a simple and easy way to strengthen our unified message to the Governor at this critical time. Please share these letters with your networks of advocates to amplify our message:
   • General Constituents/Volunteers
   • Family Members of Residents 
   • Staff Team Members
   • Board Members
   • Residents – available upon request

Please reach out to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org with any questions.