Legislative Bulletin: Health Care Provider Immunity Bill Moves to Governor’s Desk
July 31, 2020
Governor Cuomo Asks NY Congressional Delegation for Federal Relief
Governor Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to New York’s congressional delegation on Wednesday, impressing upon them the state’s urgent need for federal relief. In the letter, the Governor explains the state’s current fiscal position, the discrepancy in relief that was provided to individual states by the CARES Act, and the different potential impacts of the emergency legislation currently being negotiated in Congress.
The Governor later acknowledged to reporters that “the way we did the budget this year, the state budget, is that we basically had a big hole in terms of what the revenues will be. The revenues are what will be provided by the federal bill.” Cuomo said the state has a $14 billion budget hole in 2021 and a $16 billion budget gap in 2022, adding up to $30 billion over the next two years.
Importantly, the bill being discussed in Washington would be a two-year bill. “To the extent we do not receive $30 billion over two years, we would have to cut 20% from our main funding entities, schools, local governments, hospitals,” the Governor stated.
Right now, Congress is working to strike a balance between two bills - the Senate’s proposed HEALS Act and the House of Representative’s HEROES Act. The HEALS Act would require each state to fully fund education, even if the federal relief package doesn’t fully fund the state’s shortfall. “If that is the situation,” said the Governor, “it’s good news for schools. But that would mean the hospitals and the local governments take an even greater cut.” In his letter, Governor Cuomo breaks down potential outcomes if such a requirement were included in the final bill.
Cuomo also expressly thanked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House of Representatives for including a repeal of SALT in their proposed HEROES Act, stating that “the Federal SALT provision passed in 2017 was effectively a theft from the people of the State of New York.”
Hinman Straub Shares End of 2020 Session Summary
As was reported in last Friday’s Legislative Bulletin, the Legislature reconvened last week to presumably conclude the 2020 Legislative Session. It was the Legislature’s third time reconvening since the COVID-19 state of emergency was declared and they used the four-day session week to pass a broad array of bills including automatic voter registration, amendments to the redistricting process, and limiting the immunity granted to health care providers by the Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act.
On Tuesday, Hinman Straub shared their 2020 Legislative Session Summary, reviewing legislation impacting the health care industry and other bills of interest that passed both Houses during the 2020 Session. Importantly, many of the bills that are listed in the summary have not yet been acted upon by the Governor. The bills must be delivered to the Governor and acted upon before they become law. The full summary from Hinman Straub is available here.
Although the Legislature appears to have concluded all typical legislative work, we are still not sure if they will return again before the end of the 2020 calendar year. The body has several Joint Legislative Hearings scheduled for August, including a hearing on Nursing Homes and COVID-19. LeadingAge NY is working on a long-term care specific 2020 Session Summary and will continue to keep members informed of any additional legislative action that may arise in the coming months.
ACTION ALERT: Urge Governor Cuomo to Veto Bill Narrowing Health Care Provider Immunity
Last week the Legislature advanced bill A.10840 (Kim)/S.8835 (Sepulveda), which narrows the scope of the protections offered by the Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act. The bill subjects providers to liability for good faith actions taken to prevent transmission of the virus, to arrange for care, and to deliver care to non-COVID patients. The bill is prospective, meaning care provided or actions taken from March 2020 until the bill’s effective date are still protected by the Act.
LeadingAge NY issued a comprehensive memo of opposition when the bill was introduced and alerted LeadingAge NY members to advocate in opposition, however, despite our best efforts the bill was passed in both houses. The bill is now at the Governor’s desk and action on the bill is due Wednesday, August 5th.
LeadingAge NY members are strongly encouraged to contact the Governor’s office as soon as possible and urge him to Veto A.10840/S.8835! The Governor’s office phone number is 1-518-474-8390 and emails can be sent using this online form.
Talking Points:
- I am calling/writing you today, to urge the Governor to veto A.10840/S.8835, a bill that narrows the scope of the protections offered by the Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act.
- This bill would subject providers to liability for good faith actions taken under crisis conditions to prevent transmission of the virus, to arrange for care, and to deliver care to non-COVID patients.
- Since the inception of the pandemic emergency, we as an organization and our staff have strived mightily to provide high-quality care to all patients and residents, even when doing so placed ourselves and our families at risk.
- For the first several months of the pandemic health care providers in New York and across the nation faced extreme shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), staffing shortages, a lack of access to COVID testing and a constantly shifting array of federal, state, and local directives. These challenges were all out of our control - but we persevered and continued to provide the best care possible.
- While it is a positive that this bill is prospective, these exceedingly challenging conditions threaten to reemerge as the prevalence of the virus surges around the country. With the growth of the COVID infections in many other states, access to testing and PPE continues to be at risk.
- The Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act provides reasonable protections from liability to health care providers working under these extraordinarily challenging conditions and it does not apply to intentional criminal, reckless misconduct, or grossly negligent conduct. This bill would significantly reduce even these reasonable protections.
- For these reasons, I strongly urge the Governor to veto A.10840/S.8835.
Thank you in advance for your advocacy on this important issue!
URGENT: Two Data Collection Efforts Underway for ACF/AL Members
We know members are extremely busy, but we urge adult care facility (ACF) and assisted living providers to take a few moments to submit data for two separate data collection efforts to support our advocacy and help ensure access to potential federal funding. Both efforts are time sensitive.
First, our colleagues at LeadingAge are working with HHS as they consider provider relief funding for “private pay” assisted living providers. The funding is intended to provide relief to those providers who did not receive other federal funding. In NY, assisted living programs (ALPs) were eligible to apply for CARES funding as a Medicaid provider. Thus we understand the “private pay” term to mean, in NY, any adult home, enriched housing, or assisted living residence (including enhanced and special needs) provider that is not an ALP (Medicaid provider).The due date for submission is Monday, August 3rd by 5 PM. Click here for more information including a link to the portal and instructions on how to submit data. Submitting data is not a guarantee that funding will be received.
LeadingAge NY is also working with other associations to collect COVID-19 cost information from ACF/AL providers for the months of May and June to help inform our advocacy efforts. This data collection effort serves to update data previously collected, however the survey has been streamlined to make it easier for you to complete. The survey has been emailed to all ACF/AL providers, and can be accessed here. Please complete it as soon as possible, but no later than August 21, 2020.
URGENT: Please Complete Nursing Home Cost Survey
We need your help. Early in the pandemic, statewide associations surveyed nursing home members to collect preliminary data on the financial impact of COVID-19. As the emergency has unfolded, providers are struggling with mounting revenue losses and with increased expenses that include significant staff testing costs. We are conducting another round of surveys to get a better and more complete understanding of the current financial realities members face. We thank you in advance for your participation which will provide us with critical insights for advocacy. The online survey form is here.
Urge Congress to Provide Immediate Relief to Aging Services Providers
The House and Senate are busy negotiating the next big coronavirus relief package. We have been advocating this summer for our 5 essential actions and it’s time to get it over the finish line.
The COVID-19 relief package released on Monday, July 27th by Senate leadership does not do enough for aging services providers. There are critical pieces missing and Congress needs to hear that many LeadingAge provider communities are struggling to obtain enough personal protective equipment, sufficient testing, and resources to keep the older adults they serve safe and healthy.
Tell Congress that our critical asks must be included in the final relief package. Click here to send a personal message to your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators asking for crucial resources and immediate relief TODAY! It only takes a few minutes!
LeadingAge NY Invited to Testify at Nursing Home Hearing
On Monday, LeadingAge New York received official invitation to testify at an upcoming Joint Legislative Hearing on the COVID-19 impact on residential healthcare facilities and other long-term care settings. The hearings scheduled for August 3rd (for NYC, Westchester, and Long Island) and August 10th (upstate New York) will be held via Zoom and testimony is invitation only. Jim Clyne, President and CEO of LeadingAge NY, will be offering testimony at the August 10th hearing. Both hearings will be streamed here beginning at 10 AM.
The Senate and Assembly Committees on Health, Aging and Investigations/Oversight are hosting the hearings. LeadingAge NY members are encouraged to continue connecting with lawmakers on the topic of COVID-19 and the experience on the front lines, particularly if your Assembly Member or State Senator sits on any of the above listed committees. These lawmakers will be critical in our advocacy on this issue for the remainder of the pandemic.
You can learn which committees your lawmakers sit on by searching for them on the Assembly and Senate websites. Once you are on your lawmakers’ webpage, their committee membership is listed under “committees” or “about”.
Reminder: LeadingAge NY Weekly COVID-19 Calls Rescheduled
Due to scheduling conflicts with the upcoming Joint Legislative Hearings on residential health care facilities and COVID-19, LeadingAge NY will be holding its next two weekly COVID-19 update webinars on Wednesday, August 5th and Wednesday, August 12th, both at 11 AM.
As always, members can click here to join the call from your computer, android or apple device. Or you can join the call by dialing in: 888 475 4499 (Toll-Free); Webinar ID: 852 964 255.
Contact: Ami Schnauber; 518.867.8854; aschnauber@leadingageny.org
Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org