BILL NUMBER: S6981A
SPONSOR: WEBB
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to state aid for home
health care to meet community need
 
PURPOSE:
To update the current public health law provisions for annual state aid
to meet community need for Certified Home Health Agency services across
regions of NYS.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill declares the legislative necessity of the act to
meet the statutory, policy, and community-need requirements for Certi-
fied Home Health Agency (CHHA) services in NYS.
Section 2 amends Public Health Law section 3615 to update the state's
statutory provisions for annual state aid for Certified Home Health
Agency services need.
Current statute targets state aid for home health for purposes that
include home health service access, quality, and coordination with
hospital partners. This bill would update these provisions to include:
- Services to high-need, remote, underserved, diverse, or special care
patient needs.
- Specialized recruitment, training, retention, and safety initiatives
to provide for supply, and reduce vacancies, in home health nurses,
therapists, social workers and aide personnel.
- Technology support for delivery and efficiency of services, including
workforce efficiency and access.
This section also incorporates standards, expectations, and demonstrated
record of service commitment of agencies for receipt and use of state
aid funds; specifies the agency application process; and provides that
agencies may reapply for ensuing years.
Authorizes the State Department of Health to issue guidance governing
the provisions of the program.
Section 3 of the bill sets forth the effective date as the first of
April next succeeding the date of enactment.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Certified Home Health Care Agencies (CHHAs) deliver essential health,
therapeutic and life-sustaining services for nearly 500,000 patients
across NYS. Services range from maternal, infant and pediatric care, to
pre and post-surgical care, to pre-acute, acute and post-acute care and
rehabilitation, to clinically complex care, to care of the chronically
ill, to palliative care, to public health, primary and preventive
services, and more. CHHAs are integral services in the health care
system. They function as part of the vital continuum of care for
patients, and are partners with physicians, hospitals, primary care
practitioners, mental/behavioral providers, health plans, and others,
CHHAs include professional nursing, therapies, social work, home health
aide, care management, telehealth, medical supplies, and other community
and in-home supports. These agencies deploy health care professionals to
homes daily, keeping vulnerable New Yorkers in their homes, out of
hospitals and nursing facilities, saving valuable health care dollars in
the process. Yet currently nearly two-thirds of NY's home health agen-
cies are functioning well below sustainable fiscal margins and are erod-
ing rather than increasing their capacity as patient demands skyrocket.
There are shortages in home health nurses, therapists and direct care
workers, combined with high vacancy rates across the board in all areas.
Moreover, the severe under-capacity and shortage of home health
services, greatly exacerbates the access crises currently facing hospi-
tals, emergency rooms, nursing homes and community health settings
across NYS.
This legislation would update and ensure funding for the state's current
statutory structure providing state aid for CHHA services. The funding
needs supported in this legislation are those not typically reimbursed
in the Medicaid, Medicare or commercial rate structure, nor in the nego-
tiated rate or wage methodologies relied on by the state. Rather, these
are core structural service needs that in other sectors, such as hospi-
tals, are supported by public funding pools outside of the rate process
and are vital to public need. This legislation is critical to ensuring
updates and funding for NY's home health state aid program, for the
medically needy population, and for the community health system as a
whole that relies on these services for health- and life-dependent
support.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2025: S.6981 - New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are anticipated Medicaid savings resulting from access to home
health care necessary to avert preventable hospital, nursing home and
emergency services and expenses, as well as to enable less costly ambu-
latory surgical and interventional options for patient care.
 
EFFECTIVE DA1E:
First day of April next succeeding the date of enactment.