ASAP
A Weekly Publication Of HCA Home Care Association of New York State
Legislative Issues Public Policy
News
Volume 21, No. 9 March 4, 2016
Member Advocacy Urgently Needed on Budget Fixes amid Governor’s Non-Commitment for Wage Funding If you haven’t called your legislator yet, you must do so repeatedly throughout early next week. These calls are urgently needed. The Legislature is close to finalizing its state budget bills. Lawmakers need to hear from you in a big way, so that HCA’s budget language gets included to fix the devastating impact of the Governor’s budget and the long-standing need for home care reimbursement changes. We can’t stress enough the need for grassroots support. HCA has been hammering our requests and proposed legislative language repeatedly at all levels over the past several weeks – in meetings with key legislative committees, the Assembly and Senate Leadership and with the state Division of Budget – but our goal can only be achieved if lawmakers hear from you. Legislators need convincing, in order to counteract the Governor’s budget and his position relative to home care. Troubling comments on wage mandate A huge area of concern, of course, is the Governor’s wage mandate. The Governor has made recent comments to the media which have relied on incorrect assumptions about the financial condition of home care and its ability to cover the cost of a wage hike. Those assumptions are directly refuted by HCA’s own data and your experiences outlined in our home care financial condition report. See FIXES p. 2
Inside ASAP Member Advocacy Urgently Needed on Budget Fixes.......................1 HCA Presses for Direct FLSA Distributions to Home Care.................4 Member Hiring Announcements..........................................................4 OMIG Resumes Semiannual TPL Case Requests.................................7 Webinar Outlines Medicare Revalidation Process .............................7 Finance Summit Next Week: Register Now..........................................8 HCA ‘Essential Personnel’ Bill Reintroduced in Assembly................10 Agencies Must Post Injury and Illness Summaries.............................10 NYMMIS Trainings Available.............................................................11 Just 4 Days to Nominate Staff, Colleagues for HCA Awards............11 Emergency Prep. Staff: Plan for March 11 Webinar on TALs..............11 ICD-10 Next Steps Toolkit for Providers.............................................12 Long-Term Services, Supports Open Door Forum Scheduled..........12 Emergency Planning Guide Released................................................12 DOH Posts Regulatory Agenda.........................................................13 DOH Posts Revised Rule on Immediate Need for Personal Care......14 DSRIP Opt Out Materials Available...................................................14 Dec. Global Cap Report: Spending $52M Over Projections.............15 NGS Provides Updates on Obtaining PS&R Data............................16 QIES Systems to be Shut Down from March 16 to 21.........................16 Publications............................................................................................................17
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