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New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging

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Legacy Doc ID# 14408404

For Release:  IMMEDIATE May 11, 2004

Contact:  Daniel Curran 518-449-2707, ext. 124 518-369-6890 (cell)

Access to Senior Care Options for New Yorkers Decreasing
New York Sees 80 Adult Care Facilities Serving 4,000 Close in Past Four Years

(ALBANY) – More than 80 adult care facilities serving more than 4,000 residents have closed in New York state in the past four years leaving future generations of older New Yorkers with fewer health care options.  The closures have also left taxpayers with higher bills for providing long term care, since an estimated 40 percent of these displaced people went to nursing homes thereby costing thestate $8.2 million more than if they had been able to continue living in an adult care facility.

According to “Closing Adult Care Facilities: Counting the Cost,” a new report from the New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging (NYAHSA) released during Older Americans Month, more than 80 adult care facilities (ACFs) from across the state have closed since 1999.  The report says closings are due to inadequate reimbursement rates. Providers receive about $28 a day or less than half of the actual cost of providing care.

Adult care facilities (ACFs), the modern name for “the old age home” or “rest home”, serve New York’s frail elderly and disabled. Staff members of ACFs serve residents their meals; provide assistance with everyday activities such as dressing, grooming and bathing; help with medications; and provide opportunities for socialization and recreation.  ACFs are licensed by the state Department of Health.

“Adult care facilities are among the most economical, practical and rational approaches to long term care,” said Carl S. Young, president of NYAHSA.  “Unfortunately, when an ACF closes today after so many others have closed, residents who receive public assistance often have no other choice and move to more expensive nursing homes, which results in millions of dollars in unnecessary Medicaid expenditures.”

“New Yorkers need to do the math,” continued Young. “If the state and federal government pay about $28 a day for someone without sufficient income to live in an ACF, and it covers only half of the $57 or so per day cost, someone is going to suffer. New York needs to pay providers the true cost of providing care.”

According to the NYAHSA report, New York state has not increased its portion of the Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) payment for people who live in ACFs since 1988. Each year the federal government applies a cost of living adjustment (COLA) to its portion of the SSI payment (about 60 percent of the payment) to keep pace with inflation. 

According to state information, about 13,000 New Yorkers who live in ACFs receive SSI and are qualified for Medicaid.  Due to the closures of facilities that accept SSI, this number is shrinking and there are 2,500 fewer SSI residents living in ACFs today than in 1994. 

“Closing Adult Care Facilities: Counting the Cost,” includes a detailed legislative solution that would pay ACFs the true cost of delivering the required care, while reducing state and county Medicaid expenditures for nursing home care.  The plan would increase access to more people who would chose and are able to live in the more homelike settings offered by ACFs.  

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Founded in 1961, the New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging (NYAHSA) represents more than 650 not-for-profit, mission-driven and public continuing care providers, including nursing homes, senior housing, adult care facilities, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living and community service providers.