DOH Releases Workforce Investment Program Funding Methodology

The Department of Health (DOH) has posted Workforce Investment Program (WIP) anticipated regional funding totals and an outline of the associated methodology. The document is available on the WIP web page in the “Recent Updates” section. First-year funding of up to $61.3 million will be issued by March 31, 2018 and is to be used by March 31, 2019. Each of six regions will receive a $2 million base payment for addressing disparities in workforce population, density, and resources. The remaining funding will be allocated to each region based on October 2017 Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) enrollment in the region.

Eligible MLTC plans and Workforce Investment Organizations (WIOs) will need to enter into an agreement and submit it to DOH for review.  Sample agreement language and a document outlining roles and responsibilities of each party are available here. DOH points out that the sample agreement document should not be considered a template, but an outline which includes the essential elements to be incorporated in WIO-Plan agreements.  However, a 2-page document demonstrating the WIO - Plan partnership's capacity and approach to support value-based payments (VBP) goals is considered part of the agreement and must be included for a WIO - Plan partnerships to be considered.  Plan-WIO agreements are due by Jan. 26, 2018, and should be submitted to MLTCWorkforce@health.ny.gov.  Plans may partner with more than a single WIO.

DOH will determine award amounts to each Plan-WIO partnership based on anticipated workforce impact and communicate it to the Plan in an Agreement Letter.  The list of approved WIOs is here. A list of plans eligible to participate in the program (those with more than 5,000 members in October 2017) can be found in the partnership development document available here.

Goals of the program include initiatives to attract, recruit, and retain long term care workers in the areas they serve and to address reductions in health disparities by focusing on the placement of long term care workers in medically underserved communities.

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