CPC Calls on Governor and Legislative Leaders to Reform Home Care
CPC continues its advocacy on home care reform by calling on New York State Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Heastie to take up:
1) converting 24-hour home care shifts assigned by NYS Department of Health to 12-hour split shifts,
2) passing legislation to end 24-hour live-in shifts (A3145A Epstein/S359 Persaud) and,
3) raising home care worker wages (A6329 Gottfried/S5374 May).
We are in full support of ending our 24-hour shifts and providing two 12-hour split shifts going forward and would do so ourselves if we could; however, despite our best attempts, we have been unsuccessful because of State policies and Medicaid regulations. CPCHAP is a non-profit, 100% Medicaid-funded home care agency, which means we are subject to Medicaid rates, rules and regulations. This means that we must accept 24-hour home care cases when assigned by Medicaid vis-a-vis NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA) or Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), and we are only able to pay the 13 hours that Medicaid reimburses. No funding source exists for the remaining 11 hours, and it could constitute Medicaid fraud if we attempted to split shifts without Medicaid authorization, even if the funding did exist.
Read the full letter to Governor Hochul.
Read the full letter to Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Heastie.