NYSOFANews
Governor Spitzer Proposes Budget Increases That Will Support Older New Yorkers
In a year of severe fiscal restraint, Governor Spitzer has proposed an increase of over $11 million to the budget of the NYS Office for the Aging (NYSOFA.) These increases are directed at expanding services to older New Yorkers. The anticipated increases, if approved by the Legislature, will build upon the Governor's commitment to enable older New Yorkers to remain as independent as possible for as long as possible. The budget also provides some flexibility for NYSOFA to demonstrate innovations that support caregivers and empower communities to support aging in place.
Several new initiatives have been included in the proposed budget. These have been developed as
a result of NYSOFA Director Burgess's listening tour and round tables throughout the state during
the first year of the Governors' administration. Older New Yorkers, service providers, social work professionals, NYSOFA advisory committees and county offices for the aging have shared their ideas for addressing the needs of an aging population. Those concepts ranged from caregiver supports to empowering communities to develop programs for aging in place.
Funding has been proposed for the following new initiatives in the NYSFOA budget:
- Targeted EISEP (Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly Program) - New
funding of $2,500,000 is proposed to provide new services to those that are most at-risk of
becoming institutionalized and/or Medicaid eligible when conventional EISEP services are not
sufficient to provide the help needed to remain at home. The program, run through competitively
selected local offices for the aging, will be evaluated over a three year demonstration period.
- Regional Caregiver Centers for Excellence - New funding of $950,000 is
proposed to support caregiver services. The funds will be used for two purposes, adding
$200,000 in much needed respite care as well dedicating $750,000 to create regional Governor
Spitzer Proposes Budget Increases That Will Support Older New Yorkers Centers for Excellence or
"hubs" to serve multi-county areas. These hubs will be expected to develop innovations to help
caregivers care for their loved ones. The hubs will also provide training and technical
assistance to existing programs.
- Enriched Social Adult Day Services Demonstration Program - New funding of
$1,000,000 is proposed to provide adult day services to serve those whose needs exceed the level of assistance currently available through social adult day care but are not appropriate
candidates for a medical model, the adult day health care program. An enriched social
adult day services project would be established as a demonstration project to test this model's ability to maintain elderly persons in the community by deterring or delaying
institutionalization. The program, run through competitively selected service providers,
will be evaluated over a three year demonstration program.
- Community Empowerment Initiative - New funding of $400,000 is proposed to
foster grassroots efforts to develop supportive neighborhoods allowing aging in place
initiatives to thrive.
Additional funds in the NYSOFA budget have also been planned by the Governor for several existing services:
- Workforce - Recognizing the difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff,
the Governor is supporting a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for workers in SNAP (Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance), CSE (Community Services for the Elderly) and the EISEP programs.
He has also made a commitment to support COLA funding for three years into the future.
Nutrition - An additional $4 million has been proposed for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program.
The Governor has proposed funding most of the remaining programs in the NYSOFA
budget at the same level as the previous year. Significantly, the NY Connects: Choices for Long Term Care program, offering local level information and assistance will receive continue to
receive funding under the Governor's proposed budget. Additionally, the new Family Caregiver's
Council will receive a second year of funding under the Governor's proposal. As has been the
tradition in the state, the Governor did not include items in his various budget bills that were
added by the Legislature during their deliberations last year. Several programs that were in the adopted budget for NYSOFA in 2007-8 fell into that category in the proposed Executive Budget,
including legislative initiatives.
Many programs proposed by the Governor under the
jurisdiction of other state agencies will have a positive impact on older New Yorkers. While our
analysis of the entire state budget is still ongoing to detail all of these initiatives, it is
clear that the Governor will focus efforts on improving the economy, including the
transportation and housing infrastructure. The Governor plans a 40% increase in the enhanced
STAR property tax relief program for older New Yorkers and is working on efforts to establish a
property tax cap. He has also proposed increased funding for the state's parks, mental health
services and law enforcement.
Health Care restructuring proposals will result in improved
access to community-based services. The Governor has proposed changing funding methods for the
health care delivery system to make payments that are calculated on modern trends rather than
the current structure that is two decades old. In doing so, he has stressed the need to provide financial incentives for services that support prevention of disease and the delivery of
community-based care. His efforts to increase private physician and clinic reimbursement by
Medicaid will result in extended office hours and development of practices in underserved areas.
- Workforce recruitment and retention - the Governor has proposed new efforts
to recruit physicians to underserved communities, including assistance in repayment of medical
school loans. Additionally, he plans to expand nursing school enrollments through increased
support to educate nursing faculty at SUNY and CUNY programs. Hospitals and other institutional
health care settings would have a reliable funding stream for recruitment and retention under
the Governor's proposal and many human service delivery site in addition to the aging programs
noted above will benefit from cost of living adjustments for their workers.
- Health Insurance - the Governor has continued his pledge to move towards
universal health coverage through several new initiatives. The state will fund an expansion of
the children's health insurance program to ensure that every child can have coverage, despite
the denial of expansion funds from the federal government. Additionally, a new initiative was
proposed to allow all New Yorkers, regardless of age, to benefit from a new discount
prescription drug card if their income is the same as the thresholds that apply to the over 65
population currently in the Elderly Prescription Insurance Coverage program.
The Legislature will convene hearings on the proposed Executive Budget in the coming weeks.
NYSOFA is expected to testify before the joint legislative fiscal committees on February 5. Negotiations on the state budget will follow the hearings, with the new fiscal year scheduled to start April 1.
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