PHI Offers Guidance to New York Home Care Employers
Three employer advisories published by PHI and the National Employment Law Project (NELP) offer guidance to New York’s home care employers as they negotiate the many changes associated with the state’s Medicaid redesign.
The newest advisory, entitled Upgrading Home Attendants to Home Health Aides: Is Training Time Compensable?, outlines the various factors that determine whether New York home care providers are responsible for compensating their employees for time spent receiving a necessary “upgraded” training, from personal care aide to home health aide.
New York State is completely overhauling the way its Medicaid program functions. The state is working toward enrolling seniors and people with disabilities into managed long-term-care programs, shifting away from fee-for-service and toward capitated payments.
To help home care employers manage these changes, PHI has released three employer advisories this year, each addressing a specific issue related to Medicaid redesign.
In addition to the latest advisory, PHI has published employer advisories about:
- compensating aides for 24-hour home care shifts, and
- aides’ use of cell phones to check in with employers while on the job.
More information about New York’s Medicaid redesign can be found at the home page of PHI Medicaid Redesign Watch, a three-year program run in conjunction with NELP. The program was funded by the Ira W. DeCamp Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Altman Foundation, and the Bernard F. and Alva B. Gimbel Foundation.
— by Matthew Ozga