In a boost to Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo’s cost-cutting agenda, the powerful health-care workers union, SEIU 1199 East, yesterday recommended an overhaul of New York’s out-of-control home health care funded through Medicaid.
“Home care in New York is in a state of crisis. While there are many quality providers, too much of the system is fraught with profiteering and fraud,” 1199 President George Gresham said during a home-care forum at union headquarters.
About 100,000 city residents receive home-care services through Medicaid, said Mayor Bloomberg, who gave introductory remarks at the event.
Long-term care for the elderly comprises more than a quarter of the state’s $50 billion Medicaid budget.
And home care and community services that help patients with daily tasks and medical needs account for nearly half of the long-term care costs, with residential nursing care accounting for the other half.
The union, joined by Bloomberg, said many home-care companies are abusing taxpayers by jacking up hourly “fee-for-service” billing.
In addition, the state should have a rigorous standardized evaluation system to determine eligibility for long-term care and scrap the hodgepodge of criteria currently in place, the union said.
As part of the cost-cutting effort, 1199 wants Albany to send a mandatory minimum wage for home health-care workers — who make about $8 to $10 per hour — to reduce turnover in the work force.
