Legislative Bulletin: Gearing Up for the 2020 Legislative Session
2020 Will See a Shortened Session Calendar
During the 2019 legislative session, the legislature and the Governor reached consensus on consolidating the State and Federal primaries to be held on the same day in late June. In the past, State primaries were held in September, while Federal primaries were in June. In 2020, both primaries will be held on June 23rd. The consolidation of the two primary dates has been projected to save the State and individual counties a total of $25 million.
While the consolidation of the primary dates will likely result in savings for the state and increased participation in both primaries, there is a significant implication for the State legislature. Given that lawmakers may be required to defend their seats in local primaries, the 2020 session calendar has been shortened by three weeks, with the first day of session on January 8th and the last session day on June 2nd. In 2019, the last scheduled session day was June 21st.
This is new territory for lawmakers and the impact of this change is yet to be realized. The early days of session are typically comprised of bill introductions, committee hearings and a focus on budget, therefore, the abbreviated session may potentially mean less time to pass legislation. It also may mean that lawmakers being challenged by local primaries will work extra vigorously in Albany to accomplish their legislative goals and garner the support of constituents back home.
Preparing for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Executive Budget
The Governor is expected to reveal the FY 2020-2021 Executive Budget during his State of the State address. In the past, the address typically took place on the Wednesday following Martin Luther King Day. However, last week the Governor announced in a press release that the 2020 State of the State Address will be held on Jan. 8th, the first day of session. The anticipated early release of the Executive Budget may be due to the looming budget deficit that the State will have to reconcile during budget negotiations.
New York faces a budget gap of approximately $6 billion for Fiscal Year 2020-2021. The deficit is the biggest that the state has encountered since the Great Recession a decade ago and could mean significant cuts to programs and services. The Medicaid program has been identified as the main contributor to the mounting deficit, as the Mid-Year Budget Update revealed that Medicaid spending will exceed Global Cap projections by $4 billion by the end of the current fiscal year.
More than 6 million New Yorkers are currently enrolled in the Medicaid program and the reasons for the increase in spending are self-evident. The state’s hike in the minimum wage, and union contracts that include salary raises for hospital and nursing home works has contributed to Medicaid spending as well as the popularity of the Affordable Health Care Act, or Obamacare, which has led more New Yorkers to receive health care benefits through Medicaid.
In summary, we expect that a $4 million Medicaid deficit will have to be dealt with in the FY 2020-2021 Budget. It is possible that the Executive will delay payments and push $2.2 billion in Medicaid spending into the next Fiscal Year (2021-2022). However, that action will still leave a $1.8 billion Medicaid deficit which will need to be dealt with in 2020 Budget negotiations.
Your participation in advocacy during the 2020 Budget process will be vital in ensuring that we protect the long-term care sector from massive cuts in funding. We will make sure to update you weekly on the latest Budget news, right here in our Legislative Bulletin beginning on Jan. 10th.
Save the Date for 2020 Advocacy Days!
Given the fiscal position of the state as we head into the new year, your advocacy will be vital in accomplishing our budgetary and legislative goals. Please make sure to save the date for the 2020 LeadingAge New York Advocacy Days! While it is important to connect with the legislators in your district throughout the year, organized Advocacy Days provide an opportunity to meet with legislators at the Capital where important budget decisions are made. It is vital that legislators understand who our members are, your role in your communities and the key issues facing aging services providers across the state. We hope that you can join us for a full day of grassroots advocacy on either (or both) of the following dates:
Tuesday, February 4th - Focused on Medicaid issues for Nursing Homes, MLTC, Home Care, Hospice, Adult Day Health Care
Tuesday March 3th – Focused on Assisted Living, Housing, Aging Services (Social Day, NORC/NNORC)
Keep an eye out! Registration for 2020 Advocacy Days will be open before the new year.
Grassroots Advocacy Update – Fall 2019 in Review
LeadingAge New York member providers and staff hit the ground running this fall, meeting with 5 members of Congress and 5 State lawmakers in their districts since August of this year. It was a goal of ours to connect with lawmakers in the district this fall because we believe that meetings held with lawmakers and a group of LeadingAge members serve as some of the most impactful advocacy we can accomplish. Thank you to those of you that were able to join us for these district meetings!
In recent months, LeadingAge New York has also held several meetings with the Executive Office, the Department of Budget (DOB), the Department of Health (DOH), and Senate and Assembly central staffers. These meetings were an opportunity to get insight from the State and provide an argument for long term care providers as we prepare for what we know will be a tough Budget year. They were also an opportunity to lay the ground work and open conversation as we head into the 2020 legislative session and budget negotiations.
Advocacy in Action: CMI
Since the finalization of the FY 2019-2020 Budget, LeadingAge NY and a coalition of health care associations have been working together to prevent a retroactive change in how the Case Mix Index (CMI) is calculated, and destructive cut to skilled nursing providers, from going into effect. Members will recall that at the conclusion of the workgroup required by the FY 2019-2020 Enacted Budget, the Department of Health (DOH) announced a plan to unilaterally move forward with the change in case mix methodology effective July 1st, 2019. Since that announcement, LeadingAge NY and the coalition have filed litigation against New York Health Officials and DOH, challenging the legality of the state’s actions and requesting the Court to issue an injunction to prevent irreparable financial harm to a number of homes.
In response, the State Supreme Court on Nov. 7th granted a temporary injunction prohibiting the State from implementing a change in case-mix methodology until the Court is able to rule on the merits of the case. The Court has not set a date for argument of the underlying case.
Since the order was issued after the rates had been updated to reflect the retroactive change, providers had been receiving payments based on the new rates for several weeks and, in many cases, had also been subject to additional recoupments.
Although it required additional instruction from the Court to ensure prompt action relative to the preliminary injunction in LeadingAge New York, Inc. v. Zucker, et al., DOH agreed to temporarily remove the two week Medicaid payment lag which enabled the early release of an extra Medicaid payment on Dec. 11th. This payment reinstated the January 2019 rate retroactive to July 1, 2019 and reversed July 2019-related recoupments.
Receiving the preliminary injunction was a noteworthy victory in the first phase of litigation on this issue and facilitated the reinstatement of January 2019 rates pending July 2019 rate recalculation. These wins would not have been possible without our members who agreed to participate as named plaintiffs in the case and those who have worked diligently to advocate against the cut with policymakers and to help publicize the matter in the press. We thank you and encourage you to continue your advocacy on this issue and make the concerns around case-mix clear to your elected officials.
Spending Bill Avoids Government Shutdown and Includes an Increase for HUD 202 Programs
Over the past several months, the Federal government has been operating under a continuing resolution as Congressional leadership worked on a longer-term spending agreement to prevent a pre-holiday government shutdown. On Monday, Dec. 16th a final fiscal year 2020 appropriations package was released by House and Senate leaders ahead of the Dec. 20th deadline. The spending agreement brings great relief as it means there will be no government shutdown and no third continuing resolution. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has praised his colleagues for reaching an agreement and White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway indicated that the President is poised to sign the bill and to keep the government open.
In addition to avoiding the government shutdown, the bill provides $793 million, a 17% increase over FY19’s funding level, for HUD’s Section 202 Housing for the Elderly account overall and $90 million for new Section 202 homes, a LeadingAge priority.
Hear from Key U.S. Senate Staff on Next LeadingAge Capitol Hill Insights Call
LeadingAge National is taking stock of where our public policy issues stand and the strategies we need to follow next year to move the legislation we support to final passage.For the most recent news from the nation’s capital, please join us for the next Capitol Hill Insights Call on Thursday, December 19th at 2pm Eastern! During the call we will hear from Greg Mathis, Health Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Mark Warner on our new companion CNA Lockout legislation and get the latest updates from Capitol Hill in the final weeks of the year.
Important topics will be discussed such as:
- Update on the new CNA Lockout Bill in the U.S. Senate
- Housing Funding and Policy Update
- Home Health Payment Policy Legislation
The meeting will be interactive and there will be several opportunities to ask questions. Let LeadingAge know you plan to join the meeting by signing up for the call at this link!
Contact: Ami Schnauber; 518.867.8854; aschnauber@leadingageny.org
Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org