Minimum Wage Surveys Due in Mid-October
The Department of Health (DOH) has posted online surveys to collect data that will be used to distribute 2020 minimum wage funding for nursing homes, Assisted Living Programs (ALPs), Hospice providers, and Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs) serving pediatric populations. The State will provide funding to Medicaid providers outside of New York City to help offset the cost of meeting mandatory minimum wage increases that become effective at the end of calendar year 2019. Because the minimum wage in New York City has reached $15 and will not be changing at the end of 2019, providers in New York City need not complete the survey.
Similar to prior years, the survey requires providers to report the number of employees and total hours paid by wage band. The employee counts are for the week that includes April 12, 2019, and the hour counts are for the period April 1st through June 30, 2019. Please note that any contract employees for which the organization is able to produce a payroll record should also be included, and vacant positions should be reflected on the survey based on the hiring rate of the position. Providers who are confident that they qualify for no funding because all employees are paid above the minimum wage that will be in effect for 2020 may select the opt-out option on the survey form (but should still be certain to submit the survey). The State anticipates eventually reconciling the minimum wage funding provided based on this survey to actual hours.
We urge members to complete and submit the surveys prior to their service line due date:
- Nursing home surveys are due on Oct. 16th and can be accessed here. A copy of the Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) is available here. For members who would like to compile the required data prior to accessing the online survey, a print copy of the survey is available here, and the instructions are here. Questions should be addressed to nfrates@health.ny.gov.
- ALP surveys are due on Oct. 17th and can be accessed here. A copy of the DAL is available here. For members who would like to compile the required data prior to accessing the online survey, a print copy of the survey is available here, and the instructions are here. Questions should be addressed to ALP-rates@health.ny.gov.
- Hospice surveys are due on Oct. 18th and can be accessed here. A copy of the DAL is available here. Questions should be addressed to hospice-rates@health.ny.gov.
- Pediatric CHHA surveys are due on Oct. 18th and can be accessed here. A copy of the DAL is available here. Questions should be addressed to CHHA-rates@health.ny.gov.
Surveys for non-pediatric CHHAs are forthcoming. Please note that organizations are required to submit an attestation certifying the accuracy of the minimum wage data provided on the survey and that, upon submission, the submitter will receive a confirmation email that includes a copy of the submitted survey.
Contact: Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841