Home Health Care News reports that “The New York State Supreme Court ruled on April 11 that caregivers can be paid for sleep and mealtimes in a 24-hour shift, representing a major upset for home care providers if the decision is upheld.”
“This case has potential far-reaching impacts on the costs of services,” Roger Noyes, director of communications at the Home Care Association of New York (HCA) told HHCN. “For those providers that do have a high concentration of 24-hour, live-in cases, the new costs would be enormous.”
However, data on the prevalence of 24-hour, live-in caregiving is not entirely conclusive across the industry, according to Noyes.
“If the Tokhtaman or other rulings hold, this will add significant new labor costs and regulatory distinctions that the state needs to sort out both in terms of its published requirements for providers and in its establishment of Medicaid rates to cover labor costs,” Noyes said. “Otherwise, providers are left in limbo as far as the requirements while subject to a hole in reimbursement for meeting the costs of compliance.”
Read the full story at http://homehealthcarenews.com/2017/04/court-ruling-could-mean-24-hour-wages-for-home-health-aides/.