New Yorkers Who Depend on Daily Care to Live at Home Are at Risk. Our NYS Budget Must Fix It Now!
New York has promised to help older adults and people living with disabilities remain safely in their homes.
That promise is at risk.
The state’s Managed Long-Term Care (MLTC) rate system underpays plans caring for the most medically complex New Yorkers while directing more funding toward healthier populations. The result: care for high need patients is being destabilized.
This is a math problem with real consequences.
For VNS Health alone, the funding gap has reached approximately $200 million over two years.
We serve New Yorkers in 55 counties, operate the state’s highest-acuity MLTC plan, and in much of upstate, we are one of only three plans left.
For over 130 years, VNS Health has been a safety net, providing care to more than 150,000 patients, members or clients each year, supported by 11,000 employees, including 7,000 1199SEIU home health aides.
Funding has to reflect the cost of that care. Right now, it doesn’t.
“When the math doesn’t reflect patient need, it’s the people who rely on care every day who pay the price.”
DAN SAVITT
Without action in this year’s budget, more New Yorkers will be pushed out of their homes and into hospitals and nursing homes — worse for families, more costly for the state.
Albany must act now.
The State Budget must include at least $50 million in stopgap funding for high-acuity MLTC plans and begin correcting rates to match the true cost of care.
When we get the math wrong, it’s not the system that pays the price — it’s the people.