New York Assembly Bill A00464 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 464 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. STECK, SHIMSKY, SEAWRIGHT, JONES, LUNSFORD, BENDETT, RA, REYES -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. WALSH -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT relating to complex care assistants and home care services and supplementing The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. As used in this act: (a) "family member" means a child, 2 parent, parent-in-law, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, spouse, domes- 3 tic partner, or one partner in a civil union couple, or any other indi- 4 vidual related by blood, and any other individual with a close associ- 5 ation that is the equivalent of a family relationship; and 6 (b) "complex care assistant" means a family member who is certified by 7 the department of health after passing an in-person examination which 8 tests the proficiency and competence of performing the tasks required to 9 care for a medically fragile child which can include, but is not limited 10 to, medication administration, airway clearance therapies, tracheostomy 11 care, intravenous line care, ventilator care, enteral care and other 12 tasks approved by the board of nursing for an individual under 21 years 13 of age. 14 § 2. (a) No later than one year after the effective date of this act 15 and receipt of federal approval for the program established pursuant to 16 this act, the state Medicaid director within the department of health 17 shall establish a program under which a family member of an enrollee in 18 Medicaid may be certified as a complex care assistant and, after receiv- 19 ing such certification may, under the direction of a registered nurse, 20 provide complex care assistant services to the enrollee through a 21 private duty nursing agency under the reimbursement rates established 22 under subdivision (d) of this section, provided that the enrollee is a 23 medically fragile child as defined in section 4401 of the public health EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00675-01-5 
 A. 464 2 1 law and qualifies for private duty nursing services under Medicaid. Such 2 program shall operate as a New York Medicaid private duty nursing bene- 3 fit. The department shall develop an assessment tool that will allow the 4 division to identify enrollees who meet these eligibility criteria read- 5 ily. 6 (b) The program established under this act shall require a family 7 member to complete all training, testing, and other qualification crite- 8 ria required under state and federal law for certification as a complex 9 care assistant. The private duty nursing agency that will employ the 10 family member to provide complex care assistant services to the enrollee 11 shall pay all costs for the family member to become certified as a 12 complex care assistant and to receive certification as a complex care 13 assistant from the department of health, before providing services under 14 the program established pursuant to this act. In no case shall a family 15 member who becomes a complex care assistant under the provisions of this 16 section be required to repay or reimburse the licensed home care 17 services and certified private duty nursing agencies for the costs of 18 the family member becoming certified as a complex care assistant under 19 the program. 20 (c) An individual certified to practice as a complex care assistant 21 must complete a training program and shall pass an in-person examination 22 approved by the department that demonstrates the applicant's competence 23 and proficiency. Such training program shall include the following: 24 medication administration, airway clearance therapies, tracheostomy 25 care, intravenous line care, ventilator care, enteral care and other 26 tasks approved by the board of nursing for an individual under 21 years 27 of age. 28 (d) Complex care assistant services provided by a family member of a 29 Medicaid enrollee who becomes certified as a complex care assistant 30 under the program established pursuant to this act shall be reimbursed 31 to a private duty nursing agency at a rate of no less than thirty-six 32 dollars for complex care assistant services downstate and thirty-three 33 dollars upstate. For care assistant high tech services it shall be at a 34 rate no less than forty-two dollars downstate and thirty-seven dollars 35 upstate. Cost of living adjustments to such rates shall be reviewed by 36 the department bi-annually and such rates adjusted accordingly based 37 upon any increases to the United States bureau of labor statistics 38 consumer price index. 39 (e) The state Medicaid director, no later than three years after the 40 date the program is established under this act, shall prepare and submit 41 a report to the governor and the legislature concerning the viability of 42 such program and the director's recommendations concerning such program. 43 § 3. The state Medicaid director shall adopt rules and regulations as 44 necessary to implement the provisions of this act. 45 § 4. The state Medicaid director shall apply for such state plan 46 amendments or waivers as may be necessary to implement the provisions of 47 this act and secure federal financial participation for state Medicaid 48 expenditures under the federal Medicaid program. 49 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.