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November 18, 2009
Talking Points Posted to Enough is Enough Site To assist in advocacy against the proposed budget cuts under Governor Paterson's DRP, HCA has posted talking points to our Enough is Enough website. Download the talking points below. »Download HCA's Enough is Enough talking points.
November 5, 2009
HCA and NYAHSA Issue Joint 'Lethal Doses' Report on Financial Condition of Home Care in NY The Home Care Association of New York State (HCA) and New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging (NYAHSA) have released preliminary findings of an alarming statewide report, entitled Lethal Doses, which shows a home care system endangered by a mix of prior-year reimbursement cuts, unprecedented new taxes and provider mandates, and a deficit-reduction plan by Governor Paterson that would bring the total number of Medicaid home care cuts to nearly one-half billion dollars, just since April of 2008. Among the report's key findings:
Lethal Doses is a preliminary version of a more detailed report by HCA and NYAHSA that will be imminently released. It is derived from a survey of HCA and NYAHSA's home care agency members along with an analysis of home care agency cost reports. »Download the two-page preliminary report. October 26, 2009 Albany Times Union Publishes Op-ed by HCA President Joanne Cunningham The Capital Region's Times Union today published an op-ed by HCA President Joanne Cunningham on the Governor's proposed state budget cuts. "Home care services are yet again threatened with the state budget ax, with Gov. David Paterson unveiling a deficit-reduction plan that includes a catastrophic $184 million in home care cuts," Ms. Cunningham wrote. "If this plan is fully adopted, total cuts to home care will approach a stunning half billion dollars since April 2008." She added: "Beyond cuts, providers this year are also besieged by an unprecedented flotilla of new unfunded mandates. This includes a statewide Medicare rebilling process recently imposed on providers. It is costing home care agencies millions of dollars in unanticipated administrative costs as the result of the expiration of a federal program for efficiently determining whether Medicare or Medicaid is responsible to pay when a patient is covered by both." She concludes: "It is bad enough to cut home care programs that save Medicaid dollars, allow patients to obtain care in the most preferred setting and help support our overall health care system by serving as the safety net among transition points of care. Worse yet is to disregard sensible alternatives." October 21, 2009 HCA Delivers Testimony on Proposed Budget Cuts to Assembly Committee HCA Board Member Joseph Twardy, President and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Service of Schenectady and Saratoga Counties, today delivered testimony before the State Assembly Ways and Means Committee on the impact of the Governor's proposed budget cuts to home care. In the testimony, Mr. Twardy described the cumulative impact of prior budget cuts that, if added to the Governor's new proposal, will approach nearly one-half-billion dollars in state and federal share Medicaid cuts to home care, just since April of 2008. He also illustrated the impact of these cuts in the context of new unfunded mandates and other aspects of home care delivery that further challenge the provision of care. "These cuts will not save Medicaid monies, but shift people into more expensive levels of care," Mr. Twardy said. "Such phantom savings are contrary to what many studies have shown; that is, how home care saves dollars by preventing the need for patients to be admitted or readmitted to the hospital or nursing home (where the cost of care is often higher)." As an alternative to cuts, Mr. Twardy also pointed to the more constructive concepts contained in the "Home Care Accessibility and Efficiency Improvement Act" (HCA-EIA), developed by HCA. October 20, 2009 With Governor's New Plan, State Budget Cuts to Home Care Approach One-half Billion since 2008 If the Governor's deficit-reduction plan were to be enacted in its entirety, the home care community will have received nearly one-half billion dollars in state and federal share Medicaid cuts since April 2008, the Home Care Association of New York State (HCA) reports. HCA has prepared a chart illustrating the cumulative impact of home care cuts in the last two years, available here. October 15, 2009 Governor Proposes Ten-percent Home Care Cut in Deficit-reduction Plan Governor Paterson today unveiled a deficit-reduction proposal that calls for a ten-percent cut to home care from November 15 to March 31, 2010, for a total impact of $184 million when state and federal shares are combined. This reduction is part of $286.6 million in proposed state-share Medicaid cuts across all sectors for the final quarter of the current fiscal year ($744.4 million in state/federal shares combined) — cuts the Paterson Administration has said it will also attempt to roll into future fiscal quarters as part of its 2010-11 State Budget proposal anticipated in December. In response to this week's news, Home Care Association of New York State (HCA) President Joanne Cunningham issued a press statement noting that "Governor Paterson's proposed cuts to home care — which gouges already inadequate funding levels by 10 percent more — will not only destroy services that millions of New Yorkers rely upon, but such cuts are also wholly unnecessary." "There is no denying the state faces difficult and enormous fiscal challenges. Yet the home care cuts announced today in the Governor's deficit reduction plan neglect to recognize that New York's home care community has been a proactive and constructive partner in developing solutions that meet these very challenges head on," Ms. Cunningham added, noting HCA's efforts to advance positive alternatives to the cuts through our "Home Care Accessibility and Efficiency Improvement Act" (HCA-EIA). »Read the complete statement here. October 13, 2009 The Buffalo News published a letter by HCA President Joanne Cunningham opposing any new cuts to home care. In the letter, published on October 10, Ms. Cunningham writes: "It is ironic that the Paterson administration acknowledges its own planned cuts to home care could 'backfire' considering that states that invest in home-and community-based services are proven to offer their citizens the greatest access to long-term care at the lowest cost. Isn't this reason enough to dismiss the cuts before precious time, opportunity and sound policy options are wasted?" "As policymakers know, home care is a sound solution for controlling health care costs. Patients are able to be discharged sooner from the hospital because post-acute home care decreases the likelihood of hospital readmission, just as patients receiving care at home are also increasingly able to avoid premature or unwanted nursing home admission." Read the letter in its entirety here. October 9, 2009 HCA Launches Online Petition Against Cuts HCA today launched an online petition opposing any additional cuts to home care while calling on legislators to embrace the constructive proposals contained in HCA's "Home Care Accessibility and Efficiency Improvement Act" (HCA-EIA, S.5179) in place of destructive draconian cuts. The more people who sign the petition, the stronger our voice will be against the proposed cuts, which will decimate access to vital, cost effective home care services. Sign the petition here.
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