State Announces Second Round of VAP Awards

Last week the governor announced a second round of Vital Access Provider/Safety Net (VAP) Program awards to 37 organizations.  Awardees included a project focused on nursing home reconfiguration in the Adirondacks. The majority of funded organizations were hospitals and free standing clinics “selected due to their serious financial condition and critical role in providing services to New York State’s fragile, elderly and low income population." Most of the projects were focused on care coordination, reorganization, as well as expanding services.

On Mon., Dec. 9, the Department of Health (DOH) hosted a webinar for awardees providing guidance on timelines and reporting requirements. The slides from the webinar are available here.

The $45 million awarded in this VAP-II round, along with $56 million in VAP I funding announced in September 2012, means that $80 million remains to be awarded from the total VAP funding available this fiscal year. The $182 in total funding includes $30 million transferred from the financially disadvantage nursing home program, which is earmarked for nursing home projects. 

VAP is intended to provide temporary rate enhancements to nursing homes, hospitals and Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs) that are reconfiguring, converting, decertifying or integrating services with other providers or affected by other providers undertaking these activities. Over 150 organizations submitted requests for $1.2 billion in funding; these included 25 nursing home projects requesting $106 million.     

The majority of the applications are for three-year projects with $154 million available in the next fiscal year and $130 million available in 2015-16. The Medicaid Redesign waiver that would reinvest $10 billion in federal shared savings in the state’s health care system would provide additional funding for VAP-like initiatives.   

Contact:  Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841