Last week, the Department of Health (DOH) issued a memo to Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) plans and Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs), Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSAs), Long Term Home Health Care Programs (LTHHCPs), and Fiscal Intermediaries (FIs) serving the Consumer Directed program providing a wage parity compliance and certification guidance update. The memo extends the date for the upcoming wage parity certification process to June 2022. Please note that the wage parity requirement is only applicable in Westchester, New York City, and Long Island.

The memo revises the date of required wage parity compliance activities as follows:

• LHCSAs and FIs
  • The compliance date for the submission of Department of Labor (DOL) forms LS-300 and LS-301, accompanied by independently audited financial statements verifying wage parity expenses, is revised from June 1, 2022 to Oct. 1, 2022.

• Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), CHHAs, and LTHHCPs
  • The compliance date for the receipt and review of contracted entity submissions of DOL forms LS-300 and LS-301 is revised from June 1, 2022 to Oct. 1, 2022.

Further, please note that there may be changes to forms LS-300 and LS-301 forthcoming:

• DOH and DOL are currently reviewing forms LS-300 and LS-301 to determine if amendments are required and may be providing additional guidance on the forms and audit process required to complete the forms in the coming weeks.

Please note the important date changes and those that remain the same indicated in the memo. As members know, the wage parity requirements were revised in 2020 to include updated certification requirements, additional compliance requirements, and penalties for non-compliance. Wage parity regulations can be found here, and other related documents are available on DOH’s Wage Parity home page.

Questions may be sent to hcworkerparity@health.ny.gov.

Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871