Home Care Wage Parity Rate Increases and Forms Due

Home care worker wage parity forms must be submitted before Sun., March 1, and the same date the new rates go into effect.

Long Island and Westchester Counties Rates

As previously reported, the Department of Health (DOH) posted an updated Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) on the 2015-16 wage parity levels for Long Island and Westchester counties. In this DAL it states, “for the period of March 1, 2015 through February 28, 2016, the minimum rate home care aide total compensation will be $11.50, consisting of a base wage of at least $10.00 per hour, and supplemental (benefit) wages of up to $1.50 per hour. Overtime is not included in the above rates, and must be paid as required pursuant to State and Federal law.”

New York City Rates

We did report that DOH issued a DAL for New York City for the same period of March 1, 2015 through Feb. 28, 2016. The rates will remain the same. The minimum rate for home care aide total compensation will be $14.09, a base rate of $10.00 per hour, additional wages of up to $1.69, and supplemental (benefit) wages of up to $2.40 per hour.

Wage Parity Forms and Submission

Certification wage parity forms by Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs), Long Term Home Health Care Programs (LTHHCPs), managed care organizations (MCOs) and Licensed Home Care Service Agencies (LHCSAs) are due within the next couple of weeks, before Sun., March 1, 2015 for all the above counties.

CHHAs, LTHHCPs and MCOs must submit their annual certification of compliance forms before March 1 and it must be submitted to DOH at HCWorkerParity@health.state.ny.us. The form is for the time period of March 1, 2015 through Feb. 28, 2016. Please note until DOH updates all of the forms please include on the form the time period of March 1, 2015 through Feb. 28, 2016. If DOH updates the forms within the next couple of weeks, LeadingAge NY will notify members.

LHCSAs must submit their form to the entity in which they have a contractual relationship, such as a CHHA, LTHHCP or MCO on a quarterly basis. The form can be found here. This form should not be submitted to DOH. Again until the form is updated, somewhere on the form the time period is March 1, 2015.

Questions on wage parity should be emailed to: HCWorkerParity@health.state.ny.us. or you can contact us at LeadingAge NY.

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