ASAP
A Weekly Publication Of HCA Home Care Association of New York State
Legislative Issues Public Policy
News
Volume 20, No. 10 March 13, 2015
Senate, Assembly Present One-House Budget Bills and Resolutions Developments toward the adoption of a new state budget for 2015-16 reached another major milestone this week, as the Senate and Assembly introduced their own budget bills and resolutions. Each chamber’s measure stakes out its respective positions on the Governor’s original budget submission, as well as additional priority areas the individual houses will seek to advance. The next step in the process is the convening of joint legislative conference committees for reconciliation of each budget area, along with an overall joint Senate-Assembly leadership committee to which each of the joint conference committees will eventually report their recommendations. The leadership committee met late yesterday and thus commenced the discussion and negotiation process that will further lead to three-way reconciliation with the Governor. HCA continues to press for provisions in this year’s budget to support New York’s home care system as reflected in our previously shared advocacy documents. Iterations of our proposals were incorporated in either See BUDGET p. 2
As Congress Considers Medicare Cuts, Join Us for D.C. Advocacy on March 24 The ongoing ‘doc-fix’ issue in Congress continues to create new risks for Medicare payment-cutting offsets, including possible actions affecting home care payments. In this environment of enhanced risk, HCA needs to keep up our advocacy voice in Washington. On March 24, we will be holding our Federal Advocacy Day program to coincide with the National Association for Home See D.C. p. 5
Inside ASAP Senate, Assembly Present One-House Budget Bills & Resolutions....1 As Congress Considers Medicare Cuts, Join Us for D.C. Advocacy........1 Managed Care & QIVAPP Update........................................................6 Member Hiring Announcement............................................................6 Companionship Exemption Lawsuit Update......................................9 New ACO Model Offers Wider Risk-Reward Span..............................9 CMS Revises Enrollment Policies for Past Billing-Denial Patterns....10 Care at Home Eligibility Guidance Issued..........................................12 Comptroller: Medicaid to Grow $700M Annually Over 4 Years........13 State Releases December Medicaid Global Cap Report.................14 HCA Seeks HHA Experiences with MA In-Home Risk Assessments.......15 OPWDD Issues Rule on Late Cost Reports........................................16 NGS Updates.....................................................................................16 Publications.............................................................................................17
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