Assemblyman Gottfried Intros Bill to Repeal RFO for LHCSAs

Situation Report | May 10, 2021

As emphasized in our post-budget legislative priorities, HCA is urging a total repeal of the Request for Offers (RFO) process that would determine which Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSA) can operate in New York State.

Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried has now introduced a bill to do just that. We thank him for his responsiveness on this critical issue for home care infrastructure sustainability.

The bill (A.7304) would specifically repeal section 3605-c of the public health law requiring authorization for a LHCSA to enroll as a provider under the medical assistance program, striking the 2020 law that “allows the Department of Health to arbitrarily limit the number of LHCSAs that may participate in Medicaid,” the bill memo says.

“This arbitrary and extraneous contract limitation is bad health policy and morally objectionable,” the memo adds. “It should be stricken from the books.”

HCA opposed the original RFO, and urged reconsideration of it throughout the budget process. We furthered this effort in recent meetings with Assemblyman Gottfried and other key legislators post-budget, pressing for a complete repeal of the LHCSA RFO, along with amendments to a similar RFO for fiscal intermediaries. The LHCSA RFO, we wrote, follows a “dysfunctional path, heedless of the state’s worsening crisis in home care accessibility and COVID-pandemic needs. It should be repealed altogether.”

HCA is in continual contact with Assemblyman Gottfried’s office on this issue and is similarly engaged with the Senate on a companion measure.

Please stay tuned for grassroots advocacy instructions as these discussions for a two-house bill continue.