The following is an excerpt of a report by the National Council of State Legislatures entitled “State Long-Term Care: Recent Developments and Policy Directions.” This section deals solely with the state of New York. To read the national overview and state by state detail, please visit their website at:

www.ncsl.org/programs/health/forum/ltc/ltcmain.htm
 

 

NEW YORK

Overview

From 1995 to 1999, New York experienced a higher percentage increase in nursing home beds than the national average (10.1 percent compared to 3.2 percent nationally) and a larger increase in the number of nursing home residents than the national average (8.7 percent compared to 1.0 percent nationally).(1) The number of Medicaid nursing home residents totaled almost 85,000 people in 1999.
However, with almost 20,000 people being served in the state's Elderly and Disabled HCBS waiver program (called "Long Term Home Health Care") and 38,700 people in the state's MR/DD program, New York had a sizeable HCBS caseload. The state also manages the largest Medicaid Personal Care program in the country.
 

 

Fiscal Analysis
New York led all the states in per capita spending on nursing homes in FY 2001, with $336.24 per capita. Spending for nursing home care totaled $6.4 billion, which was $2.7 billion higher than the next closest state (Pennsylvania). The state also had the highest total and per capita expenditure in the country for ICF/MR facilities at $2.2 billion and a per capita rate of $113.59.(2)
However, the state's spending on HCBS waiver programs more than doubled from FY 1996 ($914.4 million) to FY 2001 ($2 billion). Total expenditures for the state's Medicaid Personal Care program were almost $1.9 billion, with a per capita rate of $98.35. Highlights of the fiscal picture include the following:
In 2001, New York allocated 61 percent of its Medicaid long-term care expenditures to institutional care and 39 percent to HCBS.
About 98 percent of the state spending on HCBS waiver programs went to the MR/DD program in 2001, with a total of $1.9 billion out of $2 billion.
The state's spending on the Personal Care program stayed fairly static throughout the late 1990s. The state spent about $1.6 billion on the program in FY 1996, then spending decreased to $1.55 billion in FY 1997 and gradually increased during the next few years to reach almost $1.9 billion in FY 2001
 

 

Legislative Activity
There was no significant long-term care legislation in 2001
 

 

Long-Term Care Planning
In the late 1990s, New York initiated a Managed Long-Term Care program. Currently, the state is operating seven demonstration projects plus an additional 24 managed long-term care plans. The state expects to serve 50,000 people through these programs. As of early 2002, New York did not have an Olmstead Planning Commission.
 

 

Future Outlook
In 2002, Governor George Pataki (R) proposed legislation to ensure that residents of adult care facilities receive quality care and are placed in homes that do not have outstanding serious violations that directly affect the health, safety or welfare of residents. The measure also would prohibit referrals to adult care facilities that do not have valid operating certificates, increase fines for violations related to care, and require additional discharge planning requirements for patients released from inpatient facilities licensed or operated by the Office of Mental Health or the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.
The governor also announced the award of $3.1 million in grants to 14 nursing homes to conduct innovative projects aimed at improving the lives of residents with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia
New York also received a Systems Change grant in 2002 for almost $1.4 million.
1 American Association for Retired Persons, Across the States 2000 (Washington, D.C.; AARP, 2000).

2 Expenditure figures from Burwell using HCFA Form 64.