VNS Health is a 133-year-old safety-net provider serving 95,000+ New Yorkers every day across home care, hospice, behavioral health, and long-term care. We employ 11,000+ New Yorkers, including 7,000+ frontline home care workers represented by 1199SEIU and UFT Federation of Nurses.
VNS Health operates the State’s highest quality statewide MLTC plan serving the most New Yorkers with the greatest needs – and we are being penalized for it.
New York’s MLTC payment system is backwards.
It takes funding from plans serving high-need patients and shifts it to plans that grow by enrolling lower-need populations — encouraging exactly the kind of low-acuity growth that has driven billions in unnecessary costs.
New York’s broken MLTC payment system is destabilizing care and driving the wrong incentives.
- MLTC plans serving complex members face unsustainable losses — including a $200M funding loss for VNS Health over two years
- Medicaid dollars are misdirected away from real need, while low-need enrollment is rewarded
- Taxpayers pay more, even as care becomes less stable
This isn’t just a math issue. It’s the difference between living safely at home or losing independence in an institution.
Destabilized high-acuity MLTC plans mean:
- Less access to quality care in the home. (Only 3 MLTCs left in upstate NY.)
- More seniors and people with disabilities in hospitals or nursing homes
- Increased strain on caregivers
- Higher costs to the State
What others are saying:
Take from the sick, give to the healthy. MLTC rates are costing VNS Health nearly $200 million and putting the vulnerable New Yorkers it cares for at risk. That is not consistent with our values. … The final State budget must include funding for VNS Health and make sure that MLTC plan financing reflects the needs of the people who have the greatest needs.
Senate Aging Chair Cordell Cleare
VNS Health’s MLTC is in significant financial jeopardy … while plans serving less acute populations enjoy healthy margins. … We urge the Legislature to support this action.
1199SEIU
The SFY27 Budget must:
- Provide $50M to stabilize VNS Health
- Fix MLTC rates so funding reflects patient need
