The New York State Coalition of Managed Long Term Care Plans Launches Campaign to Protect and Preserve the State’s Medicaid Managed Long Term Care Program

Contact: Tyler Gilbert, tyler@marathonstrategies.com

Coalition Kicks Off Campaign with Release of Website Outlining Priorities to Safeguard MLTC Program 

NEW YORK – The New York State Coalition of Managed Long Term Care (MLTC Coalition) Plans today announced the launch of a new campaign to preserve and protect the MLTC program in advance of the 2024 New York State legislative session.

MLTC plans are essential to the health and well-being of nearly 280,000 people with chronic illness, disabilities and older New Yorkers across the Empire State. The MLTC Coalition launched www.MLTCcares.com to encourage lawmakers to protect the program from irreparable harm and spending cuts, highlight the vital role MLTC plans play in helping vulnerable New Yorkers live healthy and independent lives, and encourage the State to cut administrative waste created by the flawed third-party assessor program.  

“The MLTC Coalition plans provide invaluable services to vulnerable New Yorkers and are committed to maintaining New York’s reputation as a national leader in caring for Medicaid enrollees who are older adults or have disabilities,” said Emma DeVito, Chair of the Coalition and the President/CEO of VillageCare. “Patient satisfaction and optimal health outcomes need to be driving the agenda in Albany, and we are committed to ensuring that care options for New Yorkers who are older or have disabilities are not disrupted by irresponsible reforms or budget cuts.”

MLTC plans are essential to the health, wellbeing, and independence of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers enrolled in the program. Plans offer personalized care management services and other vital supports to Medicaid consumers, ensuring that their health and personal care needs are met in a way that allows them to live as independently and safely as possible when they can no longer perform everyday activities on their own. There is more than a decade of data demonstrating how MLTC plans have improved the lives of the State’s most vulnerable New Yorkers, helping residents who can be safely served in the community avoid institutionalization.

A recent proposal to repeal and replace the State's time-tested MLTC system with a fee-for-service model would disrupt care and reduce care coordination for Medicaid consumers, resulting in higher long term care costs for New York State taxpayers and worse consumer health. Lawmakers should reject this highly flawed proposal and collaborate with MLTC plans in the coming 2024 New York State legislative session to improve the program and meet the needs of the New Yorkers it serves.

The MLTC Coalition is calling on Albany to preserve and protect New York State’s MLTC program by:

• Rejecting the flawed fee-for-service proposal and its underlying fallacies about the MLTC program. The proposal would in fact cost the State money, and would upend care for the elderly and people who have disabilities;

• Avoiding cuts to the Medicaid program to balance the budget;

• Repealing the New York Independent Assessor Program (NYIAP), which has resulted in poor quality, unnecessary cost to the system and additional layers of bureaucracy for consumers and their families;

• Sustainably funding the MLTC and Medicaid Managed Care Quality Incentive Programs (QIPs), which reward plans that meet State-set quality metrics and pay for critical initiatives that help improve enrollee outcomes; and

• Collaborating with plans to enhance community-based care and supports for enrollees and their caregivers, enabling better integration with Medicare and advancing innovative payment models that reward providers for delivery of high-quality care.

The MLTC program has high consumer satisfaction rates, has produced better health outcomes, expanded vital access to at home services and has done so at a lower per-member cost than fee-for-service programs. Yet the MLTC plans are at risk of reckless reforms that would eliminate the program. New York must prioritize its most vulnerable residents, their families, and the care they receive by preserving and protecting the MLTC program.

For more information on the NYS Coalition of MLTC Plans, visit www.MLTCcares.com.

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The New York State Coalition of Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) Plans is made up of health plans that specialize in the care of adults with chronic illnesses or disability requiring long term care. Through intensive, person-centered care planning and coordination, MLTC plans help vulnerable Medicaid consumers stay in their homes and communities as long as possible. The Coalition is committed to preserving and protecting New York State’s Medicaid Managed Long Term Care program and the vital services and supports it provides to consumers and families.