SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Healthcare provider Nascentia Health says it has been forced to lay off dozens of its staff in Syracuse and elsewhere around Upstate New York because of state Medicaid spending cuts that will cost it $400 million in revenue this year.
The company laid off 71 of its nearly 800 employees late last week, many of them at its headquarters at 1050 W. Genesee St., company officials said.
The company said in a statement Monday the layoffs were necessary because the state will no longer allow Medicaid patients permanently placed in nursing homes to be part of managed long-term care plans like the one offered by Nascentia.
“To keep the system viable and continue to efficiently continue caring for those they serve, Nascentia Health has been forced to restructure their organization and eliminate positions,” the company said. “The gravity of the situation was not taken lightly nor were the decisions that had to be made as a result.”
The state is making the change to help close a $6 billion budget deficit caused largely by the rising cost of Medicaid, the health insurance program for the needy.
Nascentia said it was notified by the state Department of Health on Jan. 9 that 65% of the members in Nascentia Health Options, the company’s managed long-term care plan that operates in 48 Upstate New York counties, will be disenrolled from the plan on March 1. The change does not affect members who are placed in nursing homes for short-term periods, defined as less than 90 days.
Under the plan, Nascentia manages the care that patients, who are mostly elderly or disabled, receive in nursing homes. The patients can remain in the nursing homes under their Medicaid plans, but their care will no longer be managed by Nascentia.
Nascentia President and CEO Kate Rolf said the company was “not alone in feeling the impact of New York State’s ‘carve out’ of nursing home members from the managed long-term care program.”
“Across Upstate New York, 42% of MLTC members are permanently placed in a nursing home,” she said in a statement. “While it changes the traditional landscape of Nascentia Health, our commitment to delivering quality patient care remains our top priority just as it always has.”
Nascentia said employees whose positions were eliminated are being provided with access to an employment agency to assist with job placement.
“Our hearts are with those from our Nascentia family that we had to let go today,” Rolf said in a memo to the company’s staff.
Nascentia Health was formed in 2017 from the merger of VNA Homecare, VNA Homecare Options, Home Aides of Central New York and all of their respective affiliated organizations and foundations.
In addition to managed long-term care, its services include in-home nursing and medical services, home health aides and elder care, community health and wellness programs, and chronic disease management.
Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Have a question or news tip? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
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