December 1, 2022
Thanks to everyone who attended our Thursday morning call this morning.
During the meeting, I referenced several documents we recently sent to state agency officials and other key decision-makers. Two such documents are attached:(HARP-only Procurement and BH MMC Recommendations ). Both were drafted in response to high level conversations we are having with leads at DoH, the Governor’s Office and the state agencies regarding our priority issues for the upcoming Legislative Session. As noted during our call, the Legislative Session begins with the Governor’s State of the State address in early January, followed by release of the Governor’s executive budget proposal, and subsequent legislative negotiations.
Also attached for your convenience please find our (previously shared) NYS Council 2023 State Budget Priorities document you can use in your meetings with local lawmakers. The objective is to make them familiar with our requests and share information as to why these priorities are so important to your agency, and to our field. When meeting with lawmakers, feel free to pick and choose those issues you are most comfortable talking about with them. Additional ideas for ways to share your values and priorities with your representatives include hosting a Legislative Breakfast that brings together representatives from several NYS Council member agencies in your region, or hosting tours of specific programs you want your lawmakers to know about. During time spent with your lawmaker, you can make the connection for them between the programs they are seeing and the larger agenda we have for our field. We are happy to provide staff support for meetings you want to set up with your local representatives.
Finally, below are links with some information (more to follow) pertaining to the discussion we had earlier regarding health plan notices requiring certain staff in your agency to receive training on specific topics. Note: It is critical for all providers to understand the terms of your contract/s with payers including any requirements for mandatory training.
This link relates to changes to CMS requirements for Medicare Advantage Plans (and contracted providers):
This link relates to state requirements on MMC entities (and contracted providers) for cultural competence training:
https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/managed_care/plans/cultural_competence_mmc_notice.htm
Again, we will have more information shortly regarding the validity of the health plan demands our members are receiving. In the meantime, please consider signing up to attend our upcoming NYS Council Contracting Training with Adam Falcone. Part 1 kicks off on Wednesday, 12/7 from 9-12 with Part 2 scheduled for December 14 from 9-12. If you want to register to attend, contact Cindy Levernois at: cindy@nyscouncil.org. We will be sending out the Zoom link for the 12/7 training to all registrants on Monday 12/5 at 10:00 a.m.