HCA News and Updates
January 19, 2010
A Statement by HCA President Joanne Cunningham on Governor Paterson's Proposed Budget
"New York's home care system is already in serious financial peril, due to past reimbursement cuts that have left 67 percent of agencies operating in the red. An alarming 44 percent of home care providers must borrow money simply to meet daily operating expenses and fulfill their mission to New York's most vulnerable.
"The over $147 million in new state-and-federal-share home care cuts proposed by Governor Paterson in today's budget — on top of over $300 million in cuts already enacted since April 2008 — would add to these pressures, further destabilizing New York's home care safety net by making it even more difficult for providers to continue serving patients without racking up enormous losses, tumbling further into debt, cutting staff, or resorting to the elimination of programs.
»Read the full statement
January 7, 2010
HCA Delivers Testimony at Hearing on OMIG
HCA General Counsel Mark Thomas delivered testimony today before the New York State Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations regarding activities by the state Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG).
In a joint statement to the media, HCA President Joanne Cunningham and Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) President Dan Sisto said the Associations agree with the OMIG's efforts to ensure the integrity of the state Medicais system.
"However, it is our view that OMIG has veered sharply from its original intended mission to protect New York's Medicaid program," the Association presidents said. "Instead, it has begun to lean heavily on often-conflicting technical interpretations of statute and minor or insignificant documentation errors to exact enormous Medicaid payment recoveries for services that providers dutifully rendered to patients who were eligible for the care they needed and ultimately received."
»Read the full statement
January 6, 2010
HCA Responds to
Governor Paterson's State of the State Address
HCA President Joanne Cunningham today said: "Despite the many significant health issues affecting New Yorkers and the state's health care delivery system, today's State of the State Address provided no real details about the Governor's health care priorities for the coming year. It appears that citizens of the state and the health care community will have to wait for the Executive Budget proposal or Executive program bills to learn more about the Governor's health care plans for the coming year."
»Read the full statement
December 18, 2009
NY Times Publishes HCA Letter on Health Reform
The New York Times today published a letter to the editor by HCA President Joanne Cunningham on federal health reform.
She writes: "Home health care has received much attention lately as part of the national health reform debate ... these services are a vital component of the health system, caring for the elderly, people with disabilities and the chronically ill, and helping patients avoid higher cost service use, like acute-care emergency room visits, lengthier inpatient stays or premature nursing home admission."
»Read the full letter
December 7, 2009
HCA President Joanne Cunningham on CBS
Evening News National Broadcast
HCA President Joanne Cunningham appeared on the December 6 CBS Evening News broadcast to discuss the impact of proposed home health care cuts as part ofnational health reform efforts.
»View the clip online
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