Legislative Bulletin: Committee Agendas Include LeadingAge NY Priority Bills

May 10, 2024

Increase in ACF Penalties Bill on Senate Health Agenda for May 15^th

As we enter the final weeks of the 2024 Legislative Session, LeadingAge New York is tracking over 100 priority pieces of legislation, monitoring hundreds of others, and is writing and sharing memos on approximately 39 bills. With over 30 legislative committee meetings scheduled for next week, there will be several priority pieces of legislation moving through committees.

While several bills that we support are advancing, there are others that we oppose which we need to advocate against. Most notably, there are two bills on the Senate Health Committee agenda for Wed. May 15^th at 12 p.m. One bill would significantly increase penalties for adult care facilities, and one bill would require nursing homes to publicly post additional CMS Five-Star quality ratings.

Members are strongly encouraged to use the below ACTION ALERT links to contact elected officials in opposition to these bills!

1. Increase in ACF Violation Penalties - A.5485-A (Paulin)/S.5472-A (Rivera)

• LeadingAge NY Memo in Opposition
• ACTION ALERT: Oppose an Increase in Penalties for ACFs

2. NH Survey Posting Requirements - A.2188 (Dinowitz) / S.3498 (Sanders)          

• LeadingAge NY Memo in Opposition
• ACTION ALERT: Oppose New Nursing Home Survey Posting Requirements 
• Already passed the Assembly

If your Senator sits on the Senate Health Committee (scroll down on the website), we encourage you to call their Albany office and vocalize your opposition to these bills, and why. 

Additional bills advancing through the Senate committee process are listed below along with LeadingAge NY materials/positions. If your organization has a strong position or concern with these bills, we welcome you to contact your legislators to share your position, building off the arguments provided in our materials.

1. Nursing Home Closure Plan Requirements - A.3703 (Epstein)/S.2984 (Kavanagh)

• On Senate Finance Agenda May 13^th
• LeadingAge NY Memo in Opposition

2. Quality Improvement in Assisted Living Residences - A.5790-B (Paulin)/S.8865 (Cleare)

• On Senate Aging Agenda May 14^th
• Concerns - We are concerned with the implementation timeline of this bill, and are advocating for certain amendments. If members call legislative offices, you should share that in order to get this new quality reporting right, and ensure it is useful for consumers, we need time to identify the best quality measures and accurate reporting mechanisms.
• No position memo.  

3. Prohibits the establishment of For-Profit Hospice - A.6032 (Paulin)/S.6460 (Krueger)

• On Senate Health Agenda May 15^th
• LeadingAge NY Memo in Support

4. The New York Home Care First Act (HCF) - A.4583 (Paulin)/S.2931-B (Rivera)

• On Senate Health Agenda May 15^th
• LeadingAge NY Memo in Support

Thank you in advance for lending your voice to the issues that matter most to you, your colleagues, and your residents/consumers! There are only a few short weeks left of session – NOW is the time to ensure your legislators know where you stand on important issues!

 

ACTION ALERT: Support Nursing Home & ALP Medicaid Rebasing Legislation!

LeadingAge NY priority legislation to rebase nursing home and assisted living program (ALP) Medicaid rates have not yet advanced out of the Assembly Ways and Means or Senate Finance Committees.  Fortunately, there is still time to urge legislators to prioritize this legislation in the final weeks of the legislative session!
Although Governor Hochul failed to protect and invest in the care of nursing home residents in the final budget agreement, the Legislature still has an opportunity to ensure Medicaid reimbursement is updated to match the costs of care. Bill A.5905-B (Woerner)/S.6914-A (Rivera) would require the Department of Health (DOH) to update nursing home Medicaid reimbursement rates at least every 5 years, and A.7553 (Paulin)/S.7248 (Cooney) would require that Medicaid rates for ALP be updated based on 2022 costs and every time nursing home Medicaid rates are updated thereafter.

NOW is a critical time to make as much noise as possible in support of nursing home & assisted living program rebasing! Please join us in urging state legislators to pass these bills and establish a long-term solution to the chronic underfunding of nursing homes & ALPs! It only takes a few clicks!

• Click here to write in support of nursing home rebasing, AND
• Click here to write in support of ALP rebasing!

Thank you for your continued advocacy.

 

10 Days Until LeadingAge NY Annual Conference & Expo in Saratoga Springs

Have you registered for the Annual Conference & Expo on May 20-22 in Saratoga Springs? 

If not, we hope you will consider joining LeadingAge NY in Saratoga Springs, May 20-22nd, for this year’s Annual Conference, packed with cutting-edge content from experts in the long term care field! Earn your National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB) and other continuing education units (CEUs) while networking and problem-solving with leaders of our sector.

The detailed program including registration, educational sessions, brochure and hotel information can be found on our website here, and registration is NOW OPEN! 

Any questions may be directed to Cathy Bongermino at cbongermino@leadingageny.org.

 

Contact: Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org