DOC ID:  n00000328

Title: Progress on Long Term Care Reform

Posted on: 01/14/2004

Legacy Doc ID# 14401401

News Release

For Release:  IMMEDIATE
January 14, 2004		 Contact: Daniel Curran
(518) 449-2707, ext. 124
(518) 346-2615 (evenings)

Providers Welcome Progress on Long Term Care Reform
Statement by NYAHSA President Carl S. Young

“We are pleased that the Governor’s Health Care Reform Work Group report moves us closer to long term care reform.

NYAHSA and its not-for-profit, mission-driven and public provider members are encouraged by the governor’s willingness to tackle the issue of long term care reform.

While there are going to be pieces with which we may take issue, the overall themes articulated by the Governor’s Health Care Reform Work Group are consistent with what NYAHSA has advocated over time, and more recently by NYAHSA’s Medicaid Reform Task Force. 

We support the recommendation to convene a group of representatives to review the current Medicaid reimbursement system, but any proposals affecting reimbursement rates should be considered within that context rather than advanced beforehand.

NYAHSA applauds the working group’s support of revising the nursing home reimbursement system; allowing nursing homes to rightsize; limiting thelocal government financial share of Medicaid costs; encouraging long term care insurance and public/private financing; and making Medicaid a more consumer focused program.”

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The full text of the NYAHSA report issued Preserving Long Term Care for the Long Term Future, and a six-page briefing document that summarizes the report are available on the NYAHSA Web site at www.nyahsa.org. 

Founded in 1961, the New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging is the only statewide organization representing the entire continuum of not-for-profit, mission-driven and public continuing care, including nursing homes, senior housing, adult care facilities, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living providers, and community service providers.  NYAHSA’s more than 650 members serve an estimated 500,000 New Yorkers of all ages annually.