Creates a rural home health flexibility program

5 Co-sponsors

• Thomas F. O'Mara
• Patty Ritchie
• Neil D. Breslin
• Timothy M. Kennedy
• David J. Valesky

BILL NUMBER:S5448

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to creating a rural home health flexibility program

Purpose or general idea of bill

To provide for regulatory flexibility in the establishment and provision of home care services in rural areas, in order to provide for access and efficiency of care and to facilitate overall rural health care systems.

Summary of provisions

Creates a new §3622 of the public health law, the "Rural Home Health Flexibility Program. Authorizes, provides a framework for and directs the State Commissioner of Health to consider proposals from providers operating in rural counties for regulatory flexibility for the establishment and/or operation of new and/or existing home care services for the community, including proposals to enhance the administration, services, and quality of care provided by a home care agency or program in such an area.

Justification

There are enormous challenges to the provision and accessibility of home health care and long term home health care program services in rural areas. Limitations in the health care workforce, service diversity and volume combine with large geographic distances and difficult topography, sparse population, small-size economy and other characteristics to create extraordinary obstacles to service.

Especially in this context, well intended, but often ridged, inordinately costly and/or unattainable regulations risk the viability and sustainability of rural home care agencies and their mission. This is made exponentially more difficult in the state's current fiscal climate, with constant reimbursement reductions and the lack of new sources of funding to respond to these challenges.

This proposed Rural Home Health Flexibility Program is necessary to provide vital regulatory flexibility to support the development and maintenance of rural home health capacity as well as the operation and innovativeness of rural agencies and their delivery of patient services. The establishment and sustainability of these services is further critical to the operation and cost-efficiency of the entire rural health system, which depends upon viable home care.

Prior legislative history

New stand alone bill. This proposal was previously introduced as part of comprehensive legislation the "Home Care Accessibility and Efficiency Improvement Act", S.5179 of 2009-10, portions of which were enacted as part of the State Deficit Reduction Act of 2009 and the State Health/Medicaid Budget of 2010-11.

Fiscal implications

Potential cost-savings to the state and rural home care providers and communities through regulatory flexibility and through sustainability of cost-effective home care services in these communities as a result of this legislation.

Effective date

This act takes effect immediately.