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NYS Top Elected Officials Urged to Pass Advanced Home Health Aide Legislation

May 18, 2015

The New York legislative session is nearing its end without passage of Advanced Home Health Aide legislation, which has been a priority for PHI and its partners in the aging, disability, health, and workforce-advocacy and service organizations.

Twenty leading New York State organizations, representing multiple constituencies concerned with the needs of consumers and continued access to home care services, sent a letter (pdf) to Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R), and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D), urging them to pass the legislation before the end of the session.

The legislation proposes a change in scope of practice to allow aides with additional training, testing and registration to be assigned tasks in the home by registered nurses. Under current law, home health aides cannot administer even routine medications such as eye drops, leaving many individuals and their families without affordable home supports.

The letter, which represents unity of support across a broad and diverse group of stakeholders, will be followed by a call-in day on May 20 and another Lobby Day on June 1.

PHI, which has worked on this proposal for many years, served on the state workgroup that spent the last several months addressing design and implementation issues. 

Additional information on advanced aides is available at the PHI PolicyWorks website.

— by Allison Cook, PHI New York Policy Associate

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