Staff from adult day centers across the city and local leaders are calling out insurance companies that they say are refusing to give them the funds they need to stay open.

The workers stood outside of Sundance Social Day Center in Crown Heights Friday in shirts bearing the phrase “Seniors Lives Matter Too.”

"These industries are unable to pay their staff, unable to purchase food, unable to keep their doors open. And the fallout of the suffocation of these industries are suffocating our seniors over this entire city,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

Sundance workers say that once the pandemic started and services at the center went virtual, reimbursement rates from Medicaid-managed long-term care plans were lowered, making it hard for the centers to stay open and provide to seniors.

A representative with the city’s Department for the Aging says virtual services qualify for reimbursements and if a managed long–term care (MLTC) plan refuses or reduces the benefits, it should be reported to the state’s Department of Health.

A spokesperson for the DOH released a statement saying, "While DOH does not dictate reimbursement rates between health plans and providers, it will continue to work to ensure that consumers who benefit from these services are able to access them.”

Owners of adult day centers say that if reimbursement rates are not increased soon, they worry that they won’t be able to survive.