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Legislative Bulletin: Last Chance to Advocate for Top 2024 Legislative Priorities!

May 31, 2024

ACTION ALERT: Oppose New Unfunded Mandates on Nursing Homes!

LeadingAge New York opposes bill A.7085-A (Paulin)/S.3572-A (Skoufis), which would require nursing homes to, upon declaration of a disaster emergency, develop and submit to the Department of Health (DOH) a plan designating a location for temporary on-site storage of bodies of deceased persons who pass at the nursing home. The plan would include how the nursing home would, if they do not have such storage, construct or modify such a space, or satisfy the requirement through contract with a third party to provide mobile storage spaces. While well-intended, this bill would impose new and costly requirements on financially strained nursing homes who are serving medically complex residents and working to rebuild their direct-care workforce. LeadingAge NY memo of opposition to the bill is available here.  

Although this bill has not recently moved, LeadingAge NY has reason to believe that it could be taken up as a priority for legislative leaders next week during the final days of session. LeadingAge NY nursing home members are strongly encouraged to vocalize opposition to this proposed costly requirement!

  1. CLICK HERE to send a digital action letter to legislators and oppose this NEW unfunded mandate on nursing homes!
  2. Share this simple action letter with your board members, staff and/or volunteers to help amplify our unified message! The letter landing page also explains the issue and our reasons for opposing this proposal.

Thank you for your advocacy against this threatening, short-sighted legislation.

 

LAST CHANCE: Take End of Session Advocacy to Social Media!

The  2024 Legislative Session is scheduled to conclude on June 6th, and there are only four session days remaining on the calendar for next week. This means that next week will be our LAST CHANCE to urge state legislators to support long-term care initiatives that prioritize consumer care and quality of life.

We strongly encourage members to post any of the below social media messages in the coming days! Messages can be posted on both personal and professional social media accounts. 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. Additionally, we welcome members to edit the posts as you see fit, and/or incorporate corresponding digital advocacy letters (all linked below).

Nursing Home Rebasing: Post this graphic along with the below social media message on Facebook/LinkedIn/X:

NY should update Medicaid rates at least every 5 years to ensure nursing homes have the resources to re-build our workforce and offer the care and quality of life that residents deserve.  Medicaid pays for 75% of the nursing home care provided in NY. Meanwhile, funding falls short of the costs of care by more than $1 billion annually. Staffing challenges in nursing homes are linked to outdated rates, and insufficient funding has driven 11 nursing homes to close in the last 4 years alone. (Tag Your State Legislators & Governor) – please support, pass & sign A.5905-B/S.6914-A, nursing home rebasing! #OlderAdultsMatter

Certified Medication Aides: Post this graphic 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

Role of the Nurse in Adult Care Facilities (ACF): Post this graphic along with the below social media message on Facebook/LinkedIn/X:

In NY, nurses working in Adult Care Facilities (ACFs) cannot assist residents with temporary health needs unless the facility has enhanced licensure. Instead, residents need to hire additional home care, or have a family member travel to assist with simple needs such as applying healing creams or cataract eye drops. Prohibiting a nurse from using their own licensed skills in these facilities results in unnecessary spending in the State’s Medicaid program, and reduced quality of life for residents. (Tag Your State Legislators & Governor), please support A.5670/S.5471 to support the role of the nurse in ACFs, improve health outcomes and reduce unnecessary Medicaid spending! #OlderAdultsMatter

ALP Rebasing: Post this graphic along with the below social media message on Facebook/LinkedIn/X:

The Assisted Living Program (ALP) is the only AL option for low-income older adults in NY, but the ALP Medicaid rate was stagnant for 15 years until last year. Given the inadequate funding and increases in costs since 2007, many ALPs are struggling financially, threatening older adults’ access to this much-needed service. When low-income older adults can’t find placement in an ALP that could meet their needs, they often have no choice but to be referred to a nursing home setting.

(Tag Your State Legislators & Governor) – Thank you for recent investments in the ALP! However, it critical that we set up a long-term solution to the underfunding of long-term care options. Please support, pass & sign A.7553-B/S.7248, ALP ‘rebasing’, which would ensure ALP Medicaid rates keep pace with rising costs! #OlderAdultsMatter

CCRC Revitalization: Post this graphic along with the below social media message on Facebook/LinkedIn/X:

CCRCs are an innovative model that provide older adults a full range of services under one contract – including independent housing, assisted living, and nursing home care. The model allows residents to remain in the community as their needs change and encourages people to plan for and embrace aging. However, State oversight has become a barrier to the efficient operation, expansion and development of CCRCs in NY. As a result, there are only 14 CCRCs in New York State, while states such as PA have 197.

(Tag Your State Legislators & Governor) –  I urge you to support A.7742-A (Paulin)/S.7483-A (Cleare) to streamline regulations, enable the development of CCRCs and ensure resident protections. By consolidating oversight and modernizing these 30-year-old regulations, this bill will make CCRCs more accessible and affordable for all New Yorkers. #OlderAdultsMatter

Share these simple action items with your board members, staff and volunteers to help amplify our unified message!

 

Additional Bills to Watch for End of Session

Although there are only four session days remaining on the calendar, there is a great deal of legislative activity taking place in these final days of session. Additionally, it is possible the Legislature will decide to continue their work into Friday or Saturday, and we are hearing that several long-term care related bills remain a priority for legislators.  

Below is a list of top priority issues for LeadingAge New York membership to be aware of for the final week of session. As you will see, most of the bills listed also have a corresponding digital letter writing campaign – we hope you will join us in advocating FOR or AGAINST the issues that matter most to you! It only takes a few minutes to complete the digital letter writing campaigns.

LeadingAge New York OPPOSES the Following Bills:

LeadingAge New York SUPPORTS the Following Bills:

Thank you for your advocacy throughout the remainder of the 2024 Legislative Session! We will keep you apprised of the latest advocacy action items via email action alerts and this weekly Legislative Bulletin.  

 

Psychotropic Medication Bill Amended in Both Houses

Over the last few weeks, a bill that LeadingAge New York has long opposed was amended in a meaningful way. In its earlier version, bill A.7467-B (Paulin)/S.466-A (Sepulveda) would have further restricted the use of all psychotropic medications administered in both nursing homes and adult care facilities by requiring facilities to receive formal written consent every 14 days for the administration of antipsychotic medications.

Fortunately, the amended legislation excludes adult care facilities entirely, and specifies that the enhanced consent would no longer be required for: residents who have been prescribed an antipsychotic medication prior to admission/readmission to the nursing home; residents who have previously provided informed consent within the last 12 months; residents receiving hospice care or admitted to certified behavioral intervention units; or residents with a primary diagnosis of Huntington’s disease. The bill also authorizes nursing homes and health care professionals to issue an order for an antipsychotic medication without informed consent in the case of an emergency that could cause an immediate threat to the life, health or safety of the resident or another person. Importantly, the legislation does not require the informed consent to be in writing as had been proposed by the original legislation.

LeadingAge New York actively assisted in amending this legislation to reduce the negative impact on membership. Overall, these amendments to the bill support access to treatment and resident safety, while also protecting resident autonomy. They are critical to ensuring that access to medically necessary medications is not delayed or disrupted.

However, LeadingAge New York remains concerned that the bill’s requirement to renew informed consent every 12 months for certain residents will disrupt medication regimens and lead to adverse outcomes. LeadingAge New York believes that requiring nursing homes to renew a resident’s consent every 12 months is unnecessary given the many other measures in place to prevent inappropriate use of these medications.  

LeadingAge New York’s updated memo of concern on this legislation is available here.

 

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

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