Home Care Capitol Report February 2021 Edition

Volume 3, Issue 2 | February 2021

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LEGISLATIVE SESSION

HCA’s 2021 Priorities: Restore Funding, Add Telehealth Safeguards, Provide Regulatory Relief, Enact ‘Home Care First’

HCA’s 2021 state budget advocacy agenda calls for: the restoration of proposed cuts, financial and regulatory relief, guardrails in the budget’s proposed telehealth changes, and a “home care first” orientation to make home care a more visible and supported option.

These proposals are all condensed into a one-pager for your review here.

HCA’s proposals are also reinforced by our new 2021 State of the Industry Finance and Trends report. It shows the devastating impact of the pandemic at a time when the state budget proposes a 50% cut to home care workforce recruitment-and-retention funds, plus the proposed continuation and augmentation of across-the-board cuts that would amount to a 2.5% reduction in the coming fiscal year.

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY REPORT

New HCA Report Shows Devastating Impact of Pandemic on Home Care Finances and Access

At a time when home care providers face a 50% workforce recruitment-and-retention funding cut and other reductions in New York’s budget, HCA has issued a new report showing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on home care operations on top of longstanding financial pressures.

Among the key findings of HCA’s 2021 report for New York providers:

55% of all home care agencies in New York are estimated to have had a negative operating margin in 2019, the most recent year of data available, not accounting for the impact of the pandemic.

Home care agencies in New York saw a 136% increase in costs for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and an estimated $200 million in overall increased costs attributable to the pandemic on top of existing pre-pandemic financial pressures.

One-third of New York providers have relied on limited, short-term Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds from the federal stimulus program just to meet payroll, and most agencies are relying on some form of short-term financing or borrowing to sustain services.

VACCINE ACCESS

Survey: 25% of Home Care Workers Now Vaccinated as Associations, State Leaders Work to Overcome Challenges

To assist statewide vaccination efforts, HCA, the New York State Association of Health Care Providers (HCP) and LeadingAge New York partnered on a survey of home care providers statewide to gauge the current vaccination rate of workers in every region.

This recent survey, completed on February 17, received responses from approximately 156 home care providers employing 64,000 staff.

We found that, on average, 25% of home care workers in New York State have received at least an initial vaccine dose amid ongoing national distribution and supply challenges.

SEPSIS SURVIVORS WEEK

HCA Joins NYSOFA, Sepsis Survivors and Partners for Live Social Media Broadcast During Sepsis Survivors Week

New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) Director Greg Olsen moderated a live social media broadcast panel last week featuring HCA President Al Cardillo, sepsis survivors, and the Sepsis Alliance. The session, which can be watched here, commemorated National Sepsis Survivors Week.

Sepsis, a condition that is often fatal and always life-threatening, especially affects the home care population, Cardillo explained. In fact, 80% of sepsis hospitalizations have onset in the community, which is why HCA’s Stop Sepsis at Home program has led the nation in developing the first home care screening tool and protocol to detect this lethal condition.