Legislative Bulletin: Action Items for Final Days of Legislative Session
May 17, 2024
ACTION ALERT: Urge Legislators to Support Certified Medication Aides (CMAs) in Nursing Homes!
With 3 weeks remaining of the 2024 Legislative Session, it is critical that LeadingAge NY members join together to make as much noise as possible in support of our priority policy initiatives. Yesterday, LeadingAge NY held a digital day of action in support of Certified Medication Aides (CMAs) in nursing homes. The legislation (A.8299/S.8635) would allow certified nurse aides working in nursing homes for over a year to receive advanced training to become CMAs and help pass medications. The bill’s measures would offer quality staff a new opportunity for career advancement, enable licensed and registered nurses to have more time to tend to resident clinical needs, and improve overall direct care recruitment and retention.
If you have not already done so, members are strongly encouraged to take these simple steps to support CMAs in nursing homes NOW!
- Send a digital action letter to legislators in support of authorizing Certified Medication Aides in nursing homes.
- Post on Facebook/LinkedIn/X! Post this photo along with the below social media message:
Allowing CMAs in nursing homes would expand the nurse/aide career ladder, offer staff new opportunities, provide nurses more time to tend to resident clinical needs, improve staff retention & more! (Tag Your State Legislators & Governor) – please support, pass & sign A.8299/S.8635 and help us address nursing home workforce challenges NOW! #LongTermCareCareers #OlderAdultsMatter
- Share this advocacy flyer with your board members, colleagues and staff teams to expand our network of advocates! The QR code brings you to the digital letter, which is written from the perspective of someone who works in a nursing home. The advocacy letter can be edited in the text box of the action portal.
LeadingAge NY memo in support of the legislation is available here. If you don’t know your legislators social media ‘handles’ (@), you can find your legislators here, and then google their name, followed by “Facebook”, etc. to tag them.
Thank you for your advocacy on this top policy priority!
Oppose Increases in Penalties on Adult Care Facilities!
A bill LeadingAge NY strongly opposes advanced out of the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday to the Senate Floor Calendar. The bill, A.5485-A (Paulin)/S.5472-A (Rivera), would impose harsh daily fines on adult care facilities (ACFs) for each violation of regulations. Under this bill, the potential penalties for ACF violations would be increased from up to $1,000 to $2,000 per violation, per day – or $5,000 per day for a repeat violation. In the Assembly, the bill is still in the Assembly Health Committee.
Members are strongly encouraged to CLICK HERE to contact legislators in opposition to an increase in penalties on ACF providers. The digital action letter only takes a few minutes to send! LeadingAge NY's memo in opposition is available here.
After you send a digital action letter, we encourage members to please share the link with your colleagues and board members, and encourage them to send a letter as well.
Thank you for taking action at this critical time!
ACTION ALERT: ALP Medical Evaluation Bill Introduced in Assembly & Senate!
This week, LeadingAge NY and association allies successfully introduced A.10244 (Paulin)/S.9598 (Rivera), which would allow assisted living program (ALP) medical evaluations to be signed by a physician, physician assistant (PA), or nurse practitioner (NP), in the same way that is currently permitted in other adult care facility (ACF) and assisted living settings.
For low-income older adults in need of ALP services, not being able to complete their medical evaluation with their community healthcare professional of choice– which is often a PA or NP - can cause delays and barriers in securing the services they need. Healthcare systems are increasingly relying on physician extenders to meet the needs of the community, both in primary care and acute care. Expanding the type of healthcare professionals who can sign ALP medical evaluations will greatly improve access to essential ALP services for older adults.
Treating an ALP resident differently than other assisted living residents is not only confusing to consumers and the healthcare community, but it also creates access barriers and is inconsistent with New York’s commitment to health equity. Please join us in supporting A.10244 (Paulin)/S.9598 (Rivera), and urge the Legislature to streamline ALP medical evaluations!
CLICK HERE to contact lawmakers in support of A.10244 (Paulin)/S.9598 (Rivera) TODAY! You can also access LeadingAge NY’s memo in support here.
SAVE THE DATE: Nursing Home & ALP Rebasing Digital Day of Action May 23rd
Although the final enacted budget did not include measures to reform the nursing home Medicaid methodology and “rebase” Medicaid rates, the Legislature still has an opportunity to correct the broken nursing home Medicaid methodology this year! Bill A.5905-A (Woerner)/S.6914 (Rivera) would require nursing home Medicaid rates to be updated to reflect current operating costs at least every 5 years. Right now, nursing home Medicaid rates are based on 2007 costs. Additionally, A.7553 (Paulin)/S.7248 (Cooney) would require that Medicaid rates for assisted living program (ALP) be updated based on 2022 costs and every time nursing home Medicaid rates are updated thereafter. Nursing home & ALP rebasing legislation would ensure Medicaid reimbursement keeps pace with rising operating costs going forward, ensuring access to quality care for older adults.
LeadingAge NY Members are encouraged to use the below links to contact legislators in support of these two pieces of legislation!
- Click here to write in support of nursing home rebasing, AND
- Click here to write in support of ALP rebasing!
In addition, MARK YOUR CALENDARS for MAY 23rd – DIGITAL DAY OF ACTION for Nursing Home & ALP Rebasing! Next week, LeadingAge NY will provide a new rebasing advocacy flyer & social media action tools for members to utilize in a push for rebasing legislation. We will encourage all nursing home members to post on social media at least once on May 23rd in support of rebasing, to show legislators that this is something they need to prioritize for the end of legislative session.
Join us at the LeadingAge NY Annual Conference NEXT WEEK!
We hope to see you at our LeadingAge NY Annual Conference & Exposition NEXT WEEK, May 20-22nd, in Saratoga Springs, NY. This year’s conference is packed with valuable content from experts in the long-term care field as well as opportunities to network and share best practices with industry leaders. There also will be several educational sessions related to the state budget/legislative process and ways members can engage in advocacy efforts. Build your professional network while earning critical National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB) and other continuing education units (CEUs).
The detailed program including registration, educational sessions, brochure and hotel information can be found on our website here, and registration is available here! Any questions may be directed to Cathy Bongermino at cbongermino@leadingageny.org.
Contact: Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org