CHHA EPS Rebasing

LeadingAge New York met with the Governor’s office health staff on Sept. 22, 2015 to discuss the impending impact of the State’s Medicaid Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs) Episodic Payment System (EPS) rebasing. This follows our advocacy to limit the CHHA EPS rebasing to the final 2015-16 State’s fiscal plan of $30 million.

As we reported after the final budget was passed, the Department of Health (DOH) indicated this might be the first reduction until full rebasing goes into effect in October 2015. LeadingAge NY, along with other home care associations, developed legislation (S.5878/A.8171), which was passed by both houses and was designed to cap the rebasing reduction at the amount passed in the final 2015-16 State's fiscal plan. DOH issued a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) in August outlining full rebasing effective Oct. 1, 2015.  As indicated in the DAL the full rebasing will use 2013 as the base year instead of the current 2009 base year, resulting in a significant increase in the magnitude of the cuts.

At the meeting with the Governor’s office LeadingAge NY advocated for support of the unanimously passed legislation to keep the rebasing cuts at the agreed upon amount in the State budget; to provide time to closely examine the problems with the rebasing methodology; to request that DOH delay loading the new rates into eMedNY system; and to consider the federal policy under the Affordable Care Act that caps rebasing to a negative 3.5 percent. We also emphasized the critical role that home care plays in support of new models of payment and Medicaid reform.

We are waiting to hear from the Governor’s office on the direction they will take. LeadingAge NY will continue to keep members posted on additional information as it becomes available.

Contact: Cheryl Udell, cudell@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871