Home Care Wage Parity Update

The Department of Health (DOH) released a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) on the Quality Incentive/Vital Access Provider Pool (QIVAPP) aimed at providing funding to Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) plans serving members in New York City to be passed through to qualifying Licensed Home Care Service Agencies (LHCSAs) to support wage parity.

As we previously reported, in early April DOH met with LeadingAge NY and other associations to discuss the QIVAPP. Later in the month, DOH shared a draft DAL on the QIVAPP and requested feedback. We submitted extensive comments on the draft. In the final DAL, some of our concerns and suggestions were addressed. A few of the standards outlined by DOH to qualify for this funding include that a LHCSA must: (1) maintain or participate in a specialty training program for their home health and personal care aides endorsed by a labor organization, DOH might consider exemptions if a letter of support from a labor organization cannot be obtained; (2) implement a quality assurance program; and (3) participate in a health benefit fund for their aides and/or provides comprehensive health insurance coverage. The last standard states, “if a provider cannot meet any of the standards DOH will consider exemptions to these criteria on a case-by-case basis.”

The $70 million in funding for the QIVAPP was reported to come from a combination of LHCSA VAP funding in the 2014-15 budget, leftover funds from last year’s state budget and managed care quality and efficiency adjustments. This amount is in addition to $300 million that will be paid to MLTCs and $50 million that will go to Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs) and Long Term Home Health Care Programs (LTHHCPs) that contract with LHCSAs, both for wage parity compliance costs.

LeadingAge NY will again submit questions to the DOH to clarify issues. We will keep members posted on any revisions to the QIVAPP DAL.

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