Assemblyman Josh Jensen (R,C,I-Greece) is calling on Gov. Hochul to increase Medicaid rates to correct the damage done by budget cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic to long-term care facilities and nursing homes and fix years of neglect through lack of financial support from New York State. Pre-pandemic nursing home staffing shortages, coupled with harmful mandates and cuts to Medicaid, have caused many nursing homes across our state to experience massive losses, pushing long-term care to the brink. Jensen acknowledges the importance of a 1% increase; however, he suggests an even higher rate is required as the inflation rate has increased to 7.5% within the past few years.

“Long-term care is in jeopardy and yet state government pretends to care about our health care heroes and those reliant on the Medicaid system. An increase of only 1% does not relieve the financial stress, assist with recruiting and retaining nursing staff, or address the impacts our state’s nursing homes are facing, especially with the continual increase in care costs.

“My Assembly Minority colleagues and I are requesting that the funding to help nursing homes meet the new “70/40” requirements last year be released immediately, as this would provide critically important assistance for these facilities. We also ask the governor to delay enacting the “70/40” direct-care minimum spending legislation and the minimum staffing requirements approved in 2021 due to the current healthcare worker shortage and the struggling fiscal health of nursing homes across our state. The time to take action is now, before it’s too late,” said Jensen.