LeadingAge NY Meets with DOH and Other Long Term Care Provider Associations

(Dec. 23, 2024) LeadingAge NY met with the Department of Health (DOH) last week and obtained the following updates:

The State reported that they have been meeting with various associations regarding their budget priorities.

Home Care. The State has issued a Short Form for Licensed Home Care Services Agency (LHCSA) and Assisted Living Program (ALP) LHCSA registration for those agencies that have not completed the LHCSA Statistical Report. This form will allow agencies to comply with annual registration in a timely manner. For those agencies that have not yet completed their Statistical Report originally due on Dec. 31, 2024, the deadline has been extended to Jan. 31, 2025.

The Hospice and Certified Home Health Agency (CHHA) Statistical Reports will be out after the beginning of the new year.

Hospice. Kara Travis, Director of the Center for Hospice within the Department, shared that their division is getting organized. It will be meeting regularly with hospice providers starting in January. LeadingAge NY will be attending those standing meetings. In January, the Center will start on-site meetings with hospice providers starting with the Metropolitan Area Regional Office (MARO) region, then Long Island, and then it will head west to Central and Western NY. Providers should reach out with invitations if they would like to host a DOH visit.

The Center is working on finalizing the Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) form and the hosting and resource site for eMOLST, the digital form.

COVID-19 Statistics. The Department stated that the COVID-19 vaccination rate for adult care facilities (ACFs) is 40 percent and 90 percent for nursing homes.

ACFs. ACF updates provided at the meeting are discussed here.

Nursing Homes. For updates on nursing home penalties discussed during the meeting, see this article.

The posting requirement for nursing home quality goes into effect this week. Facilities should conspicuously post their measures for the public to see. The Department is developing a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) on the requirement.

Licensure. Staff continue to work on the Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) regulation. DOH continues its work with the ACF Licensure Streamlining Workgroup and made some headway with a DAL on third-party architectural certification, which has been issued.

Other DALs are forthcoming, including one regarding receiverships.

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