EOEA – Think Home Care Blog

Home Care Providers Looking for Permanent Rate Boost

The Home Care Alliance was quoted in an article published by the CommonWealth that highlighted HCA’s and the Enough Pay to Stay (EPTS) Coalitions pursuit to make the EPTS rate add-ons permanent for home health aides. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Via CommonWealth, September 30, 2022

Jake Krilovich, the executive director of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts, said one-year add-ons are not a great approach because they are temporary. “They go from state budget to state budget, and that leads to uncertainty for providers where they do not know if the add-on will continue past the next state budget,” said Krilovich. The rate add-ons went into effect as an emergency provision on September 2, and cover services from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2023. “We need the add-ons to try and pay workers more to attract more workers, but in the meantime, we’re working on bills that address structural reform and how rates are set,” said Krilovich.

Harrison Collins, the director of legislative and public affairs of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts, said the coalition is drafting a bill that would provide more secure rates for health and home care workers. “I couldn’t imagine my wage depending on a rate-add on every year, but that’s the world we live in, and that’s what goes on in this kind of sector,” said Collins. “It’s the people that need the service that end up getting hurt because the demand isn’t met.”

By Jusneel Mahal

Home Health Rate Bump Needs To Be Permanent

The Home Care Alliance was quoted in State House News Service’s coverage of an Executive Office of Health and Human Services public hearing on implementation of the Enough Pay to Stay rate add-ons. During the hearing HCA argued that the rate add-ons must be made permanent. Below is an excerpt from the State House News Service’s article.

Via State House News Services, September 29, 2022

At an Executive Office of Health and Human Services public hearing on Wednesday to consider final regulations, Harrison Collins, director of legislative and public affairs at the Homecare Alliance of Massachusetts, said the rate add-ons would “minimize disruption on the providers and consumers” and said the increases need to be permanent, saying current rates are inadequate. “We hope the department will review these rates thoroughly this fall, as they are wholly inadequate to meet the current needs as evidenced by the number of [Executive Office of Elder Affairs] home care consumers who are awaiting all or partial services,” he said. The current base rates for home health aide services is $26.92 per hour, and the EOHHS hearing dealt with a $3.56 per hour addition on top of that base rate, Harrison told the News Service. The current average contracted rate for homemaker and personal care homemaker services through the Aging Service Access Points in the Executive Office of Elder Affairs Home Care Program is $29.14 per hour, he said. The hearing considered a $3.96 per hour rate add-on.

The Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts collaborated with other advocates, collectively calling themselves the Enough Pay to Stay coalition, for these add-ons to supplement the current base rates for home health aide and homemaker services through the MassHealth Home Health and EOEA Home Care programs. “This supplement is needed because the current base rates are not adequate to meet the current environment on the ground and demand for services,” Harrison told the News Service.
Sam Drysdale/SHNS

What the Senate’s Economic Development Bill did for Home Care

Late Thursday night, the Senate wrapped up debate on more than 200 amendments to legislation promoting economic and workforce development and the Home Care Alliance was active on several issues.

Senate Bill 2423, “An Act relative to job creation, workforce development and infrastructure investment,” created a a special commission to investigate and report on barriers to meeting labor market demands in the commonwealth. The commission’s report can include a broad range of industries, but according to the legislation, it must consist of cyber-security, high technology and biotechnology, early education and care, home care and home health. Despite this focus, the “labor commission,” as it was labeled, did not have a member that represented the home care industry.

Working together with the Home Care Aide Council, and Senator Patricia D. Jehlen’s office, an amendment was adopted to get a home care agency representative on that commission. If the Senate’s legislation advances and is passed, this commission will be shining a light on home care workforce issues on a level of importance that places it with other industries.

The other amendment, which was of great concern, was an effort that would have created a publicly-available registry with the personal information of home care workers. It was the same provision that showed up in legislation and FY17 budget amendments – all of which were defeated.

In this particular iteration, the result was a redrafted amendment to create a registry of home care workers that does NOT include personal information, but rather certifications and whether that worker has ever committed abuse, mistreatment or neglect of an elderly patient or consumer.

The Alliance thanks the many agencies that weighed in quickly with their state senator by phone and email on both of these matters.

The Senate’s legislation now must pass a conference committee process where differences between S.2423 and the House’s version of the bill must be worked out.

Further updates will be shared when they become available.

Return to www.thinkhome.care.

Advocacy Alert: Gain Support for the Home Care Oversight Commission

The roughly $40 billion that will make up the legislature’s FY17 proposal must first go through a six-member “conference committee” that will negotiate on differences between the House and Senate budget versions.

Included in the Senate version was a special commission that will study, discuss, and make recommendations on separate policies for state-based oversight of home health and private-pay home care agencies. It will take advocacy to ensure that this important provision is included in the conference committee’s negotiated budget, and action can be taken through the HCA’s Advocacy Center.

Simply fill out the contact forms and hit “send” to help gain support for the Home Care Commission!

The Commonwealth is one of five states without either licensure or a “certificate of need” process for home health care services. Massachusetts has also recently experienced rapid growth in the number of “certified” home health agencies. The related and significant spike in MassHealth spending has forced the state to establish program integrity measures on these agencies.

Likewise, private-pay home care agencies across the state that provide mostly non-medical support services in the home have no state oversight and a study commission is needed to determine the best solution.

The Alliance will continue to update it’s members on this proposal.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Senate Advances Home Care Commission in Budget

In a $39.5 billion budget, the Senate advanced Home Care Alliance priorities, namely a special commission that will study and make recommendations for state oversight of home care.

The commission would create a separate set of recommendations for certified home health and also private pay agencies. The group would include three representatives from each type of agency (certified and private-pay) as part of the membership along with policymakers, administration officials, and many others. During the Senate’s deliberations on more than 1,300 amendments, the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the MA Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

Unfortunately, efforts to gain payment increases for home health aides and homemakers were not approved despite collaboration with the Home Care Aide Council, Mass Home Care, and several dedicated Senate offices. Senator Joan Lovely (D-Salem) spoke well in debate on behalf of a home health payment review and Senator Barbara L’Italien (D-Andover) fought for inclusion of home health aide payment, in particular. Senator Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville) and Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett) also helped lead an effort to advance home care rates.

On a positive note,an amendment was defeated that would have created a publicly-available registry of home care workers that aimed to list private information.

In addition, the Senate approved a pilot program of just over $1 million that expands income eligibility standards for services coordinated through Aging Service Access Points.

Other notable items in the Senate’s budget include the following:

A feasibility study on allowing spouses to be paid caregivers under MassHealth.
Allowing a leave of absence for nursing home residents under MassHealth (20 medical leave days and 10 non-medical leave days).
A fund created from fines and penalties relative to patient abuse in nursing homes that funds the prevention of such action through staff training and education, enhanced inspections, and relocating residents to other facilities.
$20.5 million for the Nursing Home Quality Jobs Initiative as part of SNF Supplemental Rates.
$200,000 for Geriatric Mental Health Services.

The HCA thanks its members for the hundreds of emails and phone calls to Senators during the past two weeks. The state budget process moves on to a conference committee process where the House and Senate negotiate differences between their two FY17 proposals. The Alliance will continue to push for the commission to establish oversight measures as well as other items to strengthen home care.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Advocacy Alert: Help Gain Support for Home Care in the Senate Budget

The Massachusetts Senate is taking their turn in the fiscal year year 2017 state budget process with a $39.49 billion proposed starting point.

Senators have filed just over 1,100 amendments seeking to add a combination of funding and policy language that will be debated next week, but advocacy is needed to gain support for the issues critical to home care agencies.

The Home Care Alliance’s Advocacy Center features prepared emails focused on these issues that can automatically be sent to your state senator. Click here to send a message on all of HCA’s priorities – OR send a specific message to urge support for improved home health aide reimbursement or a study of MassHealth reimbursement for all home health services.

Here are explanations of the Alliance’s priority items:

MassHealth Reimbursement to Home Health Aides – Amendment #596 (Senator Barbara L’Italien)

Home Health Aide Rates have not been reviewed since 2007.
This amendment raises the rate MassHealth reimburses home health agencies for home health aide services by 12% at a cost to MassHealth of $3.66 million which after federal match becomes $7.32 million.
This increase would also effect the purchase of home health aide services ordered through the state network of Aging Service Access Points (ASAPs) at a cost of $5.25 million.

MassHealth Home Health Reimbursement Review – Amendment #470 (Senator Joan Lovely)

Home health care is a cost-effective service that allows people of all ages – from maternal-child health services and pediatric patients to the elderly –to remain independent in their homes where they are most comfortable and at a lesser expense to their families and the Commonwealth.
Payment rates have not been reviewed since 2007. Current rates are based off of 2005 data and were cut in 2008.

Homemaker Wage Increase – Amendment #591 (Senator Michael Barrett)

On average, this request will provide an increase of $.50 per hour to homemakers and personal care homemakers providing care to clients enrolled in the Elder Home Care Program
This budget request will include language to raise the EOEA average compensation mandate in ASAP contracts from $12.69 per hour to $13.19 an hour for FY17

The Home Care Alliance appreciates that the Senate Committee on Ways & Means included language for the Home Care Oversight Commission, which seeks to convene legislators and stakeholders to recommend separate standards for licensure for private-pay home care and Medicare-certified home health.

The HCA is also supporting amendments, including #597 (Sen. L’Italien) to expand eligibility for in-home elder services and #622 (Sen. Humason) to bring Massachusetts into the Nurse Licensure Compact.

Other noteworthy items in the Senate budget include the following:

$2.6M for Pediatric Palliative Care, an increase of $800K over FY 2016 funds to meet the needs of terminally ill children and their families and eliminate the wait list for these critical services.
$200,000 for the Nursing and Allied Health Workforce initiative through the Mass. Department of Higher Education. Senator Michael Moore has proposed an amendment (#136) to raise the amount to $400,00, but this item from Senate Ways & Means goes a long way to ensuring that the item will be funded at previous levels.
Following the Governor’s lead, the Senate consolidated the Elder Enhanced Home Care (ECOP) line item and moved that funding to other accounts.
Nursing Homes secured $30 million (half of which will come from an added assessment on facilities) for added CNA reimbursement.
Nursing Home Supplemental Rates matched the Governor’s FY17 proposal at $332.9 million, which is $15 million below what the House approved.
The Home & Community Based Services Policy Lab also received funding not included in the House budget, which will help the state study the cost-effectiveness of certain long-term services and supports.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

House Budget Denies Several Home Care Programs

Although the House budget process has yet to officially conclude, state representatives voted on items related to Health and Human Services, Public Health and Elder Affairs with barely any home care-related initiatives approved.

The traditionally conservative House budget process saw just over $12 million in additional money for all health care-related initiatives in general. The Home Care Alliance was itself asking for $8.9 million for home health aides, $10 million for homemaker wages and benefits – in conjunction with the Home Care Aide Council – and supported a number of amendments that were either low-cost or had no cost associated.

Beginning with the positive, an amendment creating a publicly-available home care workforce registry was denied. The Home Care Alliance was opposed to allowing the public access to the personal information of home care workers proposed in this amendment, including full legal name, date of birth, home address and gender of these workers.

Also, $200,000 was reinstated for Nursing and Allied Health Workforce Development that has funded improved access to education and training for direct care workers as well as nurses. One such example of a program funded through this item was the Home Health Nurse Residency Program that is run by VNA of Boston/VNA Care Network.

In the elder services category, $750,000 was provided to “meals on wheels” and the House approved a study of expanding income eligibility standards for home care services contracted through Aging Service Access Points.

Meanwhile, the House denied a commission to study oversight options for home health and private-pay home care, a raise for both home health aides and homemakers, a study of home health rates from MassHealth, and a boost in funding for pediatric palliative care.

The budget discussion and focus will turn to the Senate and the Alliance will be sending advocacy alerts to inform members and advocates about how they can help advance important policy priorities.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Contact Your State Rep to Support Home Care in the FY17 State Budget

The Massachusetts House is preparing for debate next week on their $39.4 billion state budget proposal and the 1,307 amendments that were filed on a range of different issues from home care to homelessness.

Please visit the Home Care Alliance’s Advocacy Center and send a message to your state rep to urge their support of the HCA’s priority issues. Simply click on any of the top four issues on the Advocacy Center, fill out your contact information, hit SEND, and an email will automatically be sent to the legislator representing you!

The top message (“Please Support Home Care in the FY17 Budget”) includes all the HCA’s priorities, or you can choose from other single-issue messages. There are explanations of each message and you can read the actual message before sending.

The Alliance posted a summary of the House budget proposal that will be debated next week and other updates will be posted as they become available.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Breakdown of Governor Baker’s FY17 State Budget for Home Care

Confronting a $635 million budget gap and steep spending increases in several areas, including MassHealth, Governor Charlie Baker’s administration released a $39.5 billion budget plan that aims to reduce growth while investing in more efficient programs.

On a conference call with stakeholders, state Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders thanked the Home Care Alliance for collaboration on a package of proposed solutions that are slated to go into effect by March 1^st. As noted in previous newsletters and emails to HCA members, MassHealth is seeking to establish a prior authorization process, a moratorium on new home health providers, and a conflict-free physician referral process. This includes a closer scrutiny on medication administration visits and clients with a high utilization rate of home health aides.

Secretary Sudders reported on the call that audits will be conducted effective immediately. She also explained that there are currently 195 certified home health agencies in the Commonwealth and 12 were referred to the MassHealth Fraud Unit under the state’s Attorney General’s Office. The HCA will continue to monitor audit activity and provide pertinent updates.

More generally in the Health and Human Services budget, MassHealth Managed Care and MassHealth Senior Care are receiving funding increases while the Fee-for-Service line item continues to decrease reflecting a move to programs like Senior Care Options (SCO), OneCare and other managed care services.

In the elder services line items, the Enhanced Home Care or ECOP program was consolidated into several line items by the Baker administration. The bulk of what was a $70 million line item went to Home Care Purchased Services and Case Management under the Aging Service Access Points (ASAPs).

Below are some other notable items related to home care in the Governor’s FY17 budget:

Nursing Home Supplemental Rates increased by $30 million. This is due to an increase to assessments on SNFs.
The line item for MassHealth Managed Care increases $149.1 million and the MassHealth Senior Care account rises by $160.4 million, while the MassHealth Fee-for-service item goes down by $113.7 million.
Elder Protective Services funding was increased by $4.9 million.
DPH’s Pediatric Palliative Care Network was essentially level-funded at $1.8 million.
Elder Nutrition (Meals on Wheels) was also nearly level funded at $7.2 million.
The Nursing and Allied Health Education Workforce Development item was eliminated. Last year it was funded at $200,000 by the legislature after being zeroed out by the Governor.

The budget process moves on to the House and Senate and further updates – on both the budget as well as the HCA’s work with MassHealth on program changes to home health services – will be shared as information becomes available.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Applications for Home Care NOI to Open on Nov. 2

According to the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA), the Notice of Intent (NOI) Application will open on Monday, November 2^nd and will remain opened until necessary in order to conduct system and/or document updates.

The Homemaker NOI is the process Home Care agencies must complete if they are interested in contracting with the State’s network of 26 Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) to provide Homemaker and Personal Care services through the “State Home Care program.”

The posting for approved providers will be completed within 4-6 weeks of the submitted Application.

This link brings you to an update found on the NOI Announcements page:

http://hnoi-announce.800ageinfo.com/

Existing providers will need to confirm/update corporate data within their approved Application if any data has changed. If a Provider’s information is staying the same, no action needs to be taken. The EOEA will keep rejected NOI Applications available for 90 days from the rejection date for purposes of re-submission. Otherwise, a new application will need to be created and submitted.

For any providers that were previously rejected in FY 15 and did not re-submit a rejected NOI Application within the 90-day period, they must create/submit a new FY 16 Application.

Please note the NOI Announcements page includes a link to the MassHealth FEW Provider Enrollment documents, including an overview document.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

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