Hospitals
Healthcare providers and systems in New York are in crisis. Per a recent study by the Healthcare Association of NYS (HANYS), roughly 74% of hospitals state-wide continue to report a negative or unsustainable operating margin. Contract Labor costs continue to rise, with state-wide hospitals reporting contract labor costs totaling roughly 11% of their labor expenses, compared to 2019 when labor contract labor costs were roughly 5% of total labor costs. Both the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and Rochester Regional Health (RRH) continue to have to pay more than $20 million per month for contract labor. Statewide, hospitals and health systems generate 859,000 jobs and $201 billion in economic activity. Healthcare systems are a critical component of our ecosystem but, for decades, have experienced untenable cuts from NYS. In NYS, Medicare and Medicaid patients makeup 71% of all people admitted to hospitals. Greater Rochester Chamber:
- Supports a multi-year state commitment to close the gap between Medicaid payments and costs in three years to include a 7.5% across-the-board increase in the FY 2024-25 budget, a 7.5% across-the-board increase in the FY 2025-26 budget, and implementation of payment reform to cover the cost of care in the FY 2026-27 budget.
- Supports releasing the dollars promised to Greater Rochester hospitals to help with the loss of the 340B drug benefit program that were enacted in the 2023-24 Enacted Budget.
- Supports measures allowing healthcare professionals to practice at the top of their license and training such as by recognizing CRNAs in state law (A.6958/S.769).
- Supports reauthorizing telehealth payment parity and remove the sunset clause (A.4940/ S.2776).
- Supports measures to change traveling nurse company rules that are currently taking advantage of the healthcare crisis for their own financial benefit.
- Supports providing quality insurance coverage to the less than 5% of New Yorker’s who are uninsured/underinsured rather than replacing our current healthcare system with a costly state-run system.
- Supports reducing the taxes, surcharges, and assessments imposed on employers and individuals who purchase health insurance (including the premium tax and HCRA).
Long-Term Care/Nursing Facilities
A major component of the long wait times and overcrowding in hospitals is due to a lack of available long-term care/nursing home beds in the Finger Lakes Community and across the State. Our region has suffered from a significant shortage of acute care hospital beds and long-term care beds for many years, with occupancy rates exceeding 100% on any given day. In NYS today, there are 5,600 fewer nursing home beds available than in 2019. With staffing mandates to fill ratios, a lack of proper reimbursement for services, a shrinking and aging workforce, rising costs for temporary labor, and the closure of facilities in our region, the Rochester region now has approximately 1,000 unstaffed, but available, nursing home beds. Because of this, Greater Rochester Chamber:
- Supports a 16% increase in the Medicaid rate in the proposed FY 2024-25 NYS budget for long-term care facilities and nursing homes. Specifically, we request the implementation of the 16% Medicaid rate increase for nursing homes starting April 1, 2024. Doing so will provide a critical “downpayment” to successfully reform and rebase nursing home Medicaid rates by 2025.
- Update Medicaid Rate Methodology. Nursing home rates based on 2007 costs do not reflect current costs, which impacts the ability to provide competitive wages and retain staff. Rebasing rates is necessary for long-term sustainability.
- Authorize the use of Medication Technicians in nursing homes (A.8299).
