Today's deep dives: CMS has permanently denied Minnesota $112.75 million in Medicaid reimbursement over paperwork problems in a small sample of claims, and a federal judge approved a $162 million wage settlement for about 200,000 downstate New York CDPAP caregivers paid by PPL. Here is the rest of today's news.
Florida's ABA task force votes Nov. 17; AHCA budget holds a $1 placeholder Florida's Medicaid applied behavior analysis task force is scheduled to vote on its recommendations Nov. 17 at the Agency for Health Care Administration in Tallahassee, with a report due to the governor and legislative leaders by Dec. 31. AHCA's budget request for next year includes a $1 recurring placeholder to pay for whatever the panel recommends, the Florida Phoenix reported Nov. 11; the paper said about 60,000 children get Medicaid ABA in Florida at a cost of about $2.3 billion. At the Oct. 29 meeting, AHCA described two alternatives to paying by the 15-minute unit, a set payment per covered day or one payment per case, without proposing rates, Breaking News ABA reported. Our Oct. 6 story covered the state's lower ABA spending forecast. Sources: Florida Phoenix, Florida AHCA, Breaking News ABA
Michigan families and providers press for DSP pay in Midland About 60 people, including direct support professionals, the people they support, families, provider leaders and state Sen. Chedrick Greene, met this week at Midland's Arnold Center for a "1 Million Care Conversations" session, the Midland Daily News reported. Families described constant staff turnover; provider leaders said they are so understaffed that some employees work 80 to 90 hours a week. Sarah Hubble of Independent Community Living had recently told county commissioners that some of her staff had gone 10 years without a raise, raising concerns about how DSP pay is funded through Community Mental Health for Central Michigan. Greene said lawmakers are working on ways to fund DSP pay. Source: Midland Daily News
Cornell study links private equity to poor job quality in New York home care Nearly 40% of New York home care workers were in or near poverty in 2023, with median annual pay of $25,738, according to a Cornell Worker Institute report covered by McKnight's Home Care on Nov. 12. The researchers found private equity-backed agencies drew more than $2.3 billion in Medicaid revenue in 2022 and gained control of about half of the state's home care market in 2025. Workers interviewed at five such agencies described unstable schedules, payroll errors and managers who were hard to reach. A PPL spokesperson disputed the report in a statement to McKnight's. Sources: McKnight's Home Care, Cornell ILR Worker Institute