Poll: Planned home care cuts not favored
ALBANY — A poll released last week by a left-leaning research group indicated that New York voters are generally opposed to planned cuts in a Medicaid program that allows those with long-term medical needs to receive care at home from friends or family members.
State leaders and fiscal watchdogs have said a key priority during this year’s budget cycle is to walk back ballooning costs associated with Medicaid, the state and federal health insurance program for low-income residents. One Medicaid program — the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program — has perennially been eyed by officials as ripe for restructuring in order to recoup millions of dollars in savings.
The program is designed for people with long-term health conditions and disabilities who need assistance with daily living; the program allows those eligible to choose their own caregivers such as friends or family. Those caregivers are then paid through the program, which has been hailed by advocates as a way to boost the flexibility and freedom of those receiving care.
The poll, done by the Washington, D.c.-based Hart Research Associates and circulated by the major health care union 1199SEIU, showed over 75 percent of respondents said they viewed the consumer program favorably. The survey was of 805 registered New York voters over a week-long period.
A smaller share of respondents, 58 percent, viewed the program’s explosive growth in the past decade favorably, which the poll noted has significantly increased the cost of the program.
Budget figures provided by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration have pointed to a 10 percent growth in enrollment in managed long-term care this fiscal year, with spending expected to increase by 20 percent. The administration deemed that growth “unsustainable” and has proposed a measure that would remove a supplemental pay benefit for hourly home care aides known as Wage Parity. The move, Hochul’s office said, would save the state up to $200 million “while ensuring services are available for the most vulnerable populations.”
Advocates contend the rollback of pay benefits would translate to millions of dollars more in cuts.
Under managed long-term care, the state contracts with private health plans to manage services for people with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Paid for by Medicaid, the intent is to divert people from high-cost nursing homes to less costly in-home care that keeps them in their communities. While many have welcomed the program, some have noted that it is vulnerable to abuse.
Dave Lucas, director of governmental affairs for the New York Association of Counties, told attendees at a budget workshop meeting last week that he had been informed of social media videos encouraging people to sign up for the program to take care of their family members; as a result, he said, “the program is growing like crazy.”
More than 70 percent of polled respondents outright opposed proposals to reduce wages of downstate home care aides and to reduce the number of hours that home care aides can work each week. The poll also indicated that when asked how they viewed Hochul after hearing about the proposed cuts, nearly 70 percent of respondents said they had a more negative view.
Budget language proposed by Hochul would allow the commissioner of the state Department of Health to establish maximum daily and weekly hours for any aide providing personal care services.
Advocates contend that instead of eyeing cuts and regulations for workers, budget officials should focus on private insurers who they accuse of mismanagement of the home care industry.
“If Hochul is truly concerned with growing costs of CDPAP and other home care programs, she should stop handing private insurance companies billions a year to mismanage home care — saving New York over $3 billion annually,” said Bryan O’malley, director of Consumer Directed Action of New York. “Yet instead of cutting out these expensive middle men, the governor is proposing over a billion in cuts — taking CDPAP wages to 2018 levels, cutting home care hours and undermining the consumer control that is the bedrock of this program.”