New York

Organizations representing assisted living operators in New York are cheering a new pilot program that will subsidize rent for residents with dementia who no longer can afford assisted living.

The Special Needs Assisted Living Voucher Demonstration Program for Persons with Dementia was authorized as part of the 2018-19 state budget and will last for two years. The program aims “to keep residents in the least restrictive setting possible,” according to the state.

Eligible for the program are adults with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia who no longer can afford to pay privately for a Special Needs Assisted Living Residence, or SNALR, and generally have no other option than to enroll in the Medicaid program, which most likely would result in them moving to skilled nursing facilities.

Through the demonstration, the state Department of Health may issue up to 200 vouchers and subsidize up to 75% of the regional average private-pay rate for the monthly cost of an SNALR.

Organizations representing assisted living operators worked with the New York Department of Health, the Alzheimer’s Association and other stakeholders to make the pilot a reality.

The program, LeadingAge New York President and CEO James Clyne Jr. told McKnight’s Senior Living, “is a critical first step in ensuring that people with limited resources have access to this service.”

A previous operator of a Special Needs Assisted Living Program before joining the New York State Center for Assisted Living, Amy Kennedy, R.N., B.S.N., M.P.A., executive director of the organization, said: “I know firsthand the financial burdens on family members. This program gives them an option to stay in the program rather than applying for Medicaid and possibly moving to a higher level of care that they may not need at this point.”

NYSCAL is the state affiliate of the National Center for Assisted Living.

Lisa Newcomb, executive director of the Empire State Association of Assisted Living, called the demonstration “a ‘win-win’ for all concerned.”

“It will expand seniors’ options to live in assisted living rather than having to be unnecessarily placed in a nursing home, and it will save government money because the nursing home as a default option will increase Medicaid expenditures,” she added, saying  that the need for such a program is “tremendous.”

Ginger Lynch Landy, executive director of Argentum New York, said the organization hopes the voucher program “acts as a model for other states.”