Key Committees Reviewing N.Y. Rate Floor Bills
As the Assembly Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee review companion bills, Empire State providers are urged to support the legislation.
Two bills that would set a rate floor for DME and CRT reimbursement from New York Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) are in review by two key committees, and providers in the state are being urged to support the legislation.
S.5118-A (launched by Sen. Gustavo Rivera) and A.5368-A (led by Assembly Member John McDonald III) would set the reimbursement from MCOs for those claims at no less than 100 percent of the state’s published Medicaid fee schedule for the same services and supplies.
Now the bills are now under consideration by the Assembly Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. And the Northeast Medical Equipment Providers Association (NEMEP) and the American Association for Homecare are urging HME stakeholders that are represented by legislators on those committees to reach out to them in support of the legislation.
New York HME stakeholders can quickly send a message through AAHomecare’s Voter Voice grassroots action tool in support of S.5118A (Rivera) and A.5368A (McDonald). On that web page, providers can find a pre-drafted letter of support, but AAHomecare encouraged them to add information to that message about their company’s work supporting New York Medicaid recipients and how rate stability will help them in that mission.
AAHomecare also reported that the New York legislature’s final 2022 budget work included Medicaid rate increases across various healthcare sectors, including HME. The budget includes a 1 percent “trend factor” boost for Medicaid rates and also eliminates 1.5 percent across-the-board (ATB) rate cuts that had been implemented in 2020. The 1 percent “trend factor” increase and the elimination of the 1.5 percent ATB cuts are both effective April 1.