Provides that admission agreements at adult homes include language providing that daily room and board rates at adult homes shall be increased when the minimum wage in New York City increases in an amount equal to the percentage of such minimum wage increase; states that such adjustment applies solely to room, board and non-medical supportive services and shall not affect Medicaid reimbursement rates.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9391
IN SENATE
March 9, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to raising daily
room and board rates at adult homes proportionally to increases in the
minimum wage in the city of New York
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The Legislature hereby
2 finds and declares that adult homes provide essential housing, super-
3 vision, and supportive services to thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers,
4 including seniors and individuals with disabilities. Adult homes are
5 funded through multiple streams, including payments that support room,
6 board, and non-medical services such as food, housing, case management,
7 recreation, and supervision. The adult home daily room and board
8 reimbursement rate has not received a New York state cost-of-living
9 adjustment in over seventeen years, despite substantial increases in
10 operating expenses.
11 During this same period, New York City has enacted multiple minimum
12 wage increases, significantly raising labor costs for adult home provid-
13 ers. Adult homes are required to comply with all applicable minimum
14 wage laws, yet unlike nursing homes and shelters, they do not receive
15 corresponding or automatic reimbursement adjustments to offset these
16 mandated increases.
17 Minimum wage increases directly impact frontline staffing costs in
18 adult homes, creating ongoing and unfunded financial pressure on provid-
19 ers. Existing reimbursement structures limit the ability of providers
20 to reward staff seniority and experience, weakening workforce stability,
21 retention, and quality of care. It is therefore the intent of the Legis-
22 lature to establish a fair, predictable, and transparent mechanism to
23 align adult home room-and-board reimbursement rates with New York City
24 minimum wage increases.
25 § 2. Section 461-c of the social services law is amended by adding a
26 new subdivision 2-b to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15026-01-6
S. 9391 2
1 2-b. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, when the
2 adult care facility is an adult home, as defined in subdivision twenty-
3 five of section two of this chapter, the agreement executed pursuant to
4 subdivision one of this section shall include language providing that
5 whenever the minimum wage applicable within the city of New York is
6 increased pursuant to section six hundred fifty-two of the labor law,
7 the daily room and board rate shall be increased by an amount equal to
8 the percentage of such minimum wage increase. Such adjustment shall
9 apply solely to the portion of such rate intended to cover room, board,
10 and non-medical supportive services and shall not affect Medicaid
11 reimbursement rates. The office of temporary and disability assistance,
12 in consultation with the department of health, shall be responsible for
13 implementing the rate adjustments required under this subdivision. The
14 office of temporary and disability assistance shall be authorized to
15 promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to implement the
16 provisions of this subdivision.
17 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
18 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
