hand putting money into piggy bank

Insufficient funding for home- and community-based services across New York state is putting some seniors at risk, according to the executive director of the Association on Aging in New York. 

The association provides in-home care to New York seniors who don’t qualify for Medicaid and can’t afford to pay for care themselves. Becky Preve told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse the association has a waiting list of roughly 13,000 older adults because it can’t afford to hire enough caregivers. Preve said the association has a $7 million budget hole because the state didn’t provide it any additional funding to cover the $2 wage increase it gave home care workers last year.

Preve said if Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) doesn’t include additional funding to the association in the next budget, there could be even more pressure on the state’s cash-strapped Medicaid program. The governor and state lawmakers are still haggling over the $227 billion spending plan.

“We are actually having to cut services for older people,” Preve lamented. “What that means in real time is if you can’t access services in your county because there is a waitlist and you have to pay for services yourself, you are going to spend down to [qualify for] Medicaid.” 

The association released a report last month that highlighted the value of home care to New York. The report found that adults receiving 40 hours of home care a week cost the state 30% less than those who receive care in a nursing home. 

Preve said more resources must be devoted to HCBS as New York develops its master plan on aging. The Empire State currently spends approximately $32 billion annually to care for its 32 million seniors over the age of 65. However, as that number grows the state could see more stress placed on Medicaid HCBS services.

New York also faces a critical direct care worker shortage. Last month PHI National estimated the state would need to fill roughly 1.1 million direct care jobs by the end of the decade.