Situation Report | April 26, 2021
Governor Cuomo recently signed a COVID-19 emergency Executive Order (202.102) with a provision reflecting HCA’s request for flexibility in the timeframes for vaccination administration.
The new provision specifically eliminates the $100,000 civil penalty for failure of a provider to administer its allocated COVID-19 vaccine within seven days of receipt. The change is intended to give flexibility in scheduling vaccination appointments if a provider needs more than seven days to use a vaccine allocation.
HCA has been meeting with the Governor’s office on home care-led vaccination efforts as well as needs for support, guidance, and flexibility. In early April, we provided officials with a paper describing experiences, best-practices, and recommendations drawn from a roundtable of HCA-member home care agencies offering their input about their vaccination efforts to date and some solutions for overcoming challenges.
In that paper, HCA called on officials to increase the number of days a home care provider must use their allocation. “This increase will allow the home care provider increased flexibility for planning and scheduling vaccination administration,” we wrote. “At the same time, the more realistic timeframe will allow for a reasonable continuation of operations for home care agencies.”
Our other recommendations address the need for: reimbursement reflecting the true cost of vaccination in home care, greater flexibility in the current geographic limitations governing vaccinations, guidance or protocols that consider vaccination of family members and others in the household, and various other administrative requirements.
NYS Stresses that Performance Still a Factor in Allocations
A message from the New York State COVID-19 vaccine team, which accompanied the new Executive Order, clarified that “while the enhanced civil penalty has been eliminated, performance, effort, and effective administration of vaccines by providers will continue to be key factors, along with equity access and regional positivity rates, in making future vaccine allocation decisions.”
Other Provisions of Executive Order 202.12
The Executive Order 202.102 also continues the temporary suspension and modification of laws related to the COVID-19 disaster emergency, including some that affect home care and hospice, for 30 days until May 19, 2021.