Urge Governor to Update Nursing Home Rates and Improve Access to Quality Care!

LeadingAge NY is calling on Governor Hochul to prioritize the care of older adults and medically vulnerable individuals in the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025-26 Executive Budget. It is time for NYS to reform the way it cares for nursing home residents by updating Medicaid reimbursement to reflect current costs and resident needs. This can be accomplished by increasing rates by 20 percent, restoring recent cuts to reimbursement for capital improvement projects, and leveraging the State’s shift to a new acuity adjustment model to promote quality. These actions are critical to ensure sustainable access to high-quality nursing home care for older adults and others.

We need ALL nursing home members and advocates to help vocalize their support for these critical budget requests!

Take action TODAY to urge the Governor to provide a 20 percent increase to nursing homes!

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. Send a formal letter to the Governor on company letterhead! 
   • Download this TEMPLATE member letter to Governor Hochul, copy and paste it to your organization's letterhead, customize it to your organization, print, and mail to Governor Hochul as soon as possible!
3. 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. Please share these letters with your networks of advocates to amplify our message:
   • Staff Team Members
   • General Constituents/Volunteers
   • Board Members 
   • Family Members of Residents
   • Residents
4. Print and share advocacy flyers to increase our digital advocacy reach! Flyers can be printed and left in lobby areas or shared digitally with families and volunteers: 
   • Family Advocacy Flyer
   • Constituent/Volunteer Advocacy Flyer
   • Workforce Advocacy Flyer
5. Join our member-driven video advocacy campaign. The campaign aims to highlight the unique stories of nursing home residents and the dedication of the staff across NYS, with a focus on urging the State to better fund and prioritize the care of older adults.​​​​​​ 

Over the next several business days, LeadingAge NY will be publishing additional nursing home advocacy resources such as formal letter templates for physical mailings to the Governor and additional advocacy flyers that can be printed and shared with potential advocates. We encourage all members to join us in advocacy and share these resources to further amplify our message!

In addition, we strongly recommend that all members plan to join us for our 2025 Advocacy Day at the NYS Capitol on Tues., Feb. 4, 2025. Our push for updated nursing home Medicaid reimbursement will be a priority initiative of the day. More information and registration for our 2025 Advocacy Day is available here.

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