NEW YORK (WBEN) – The New York Assembly released a package of bills on Friday aimed at tightening restrictions on for-profit nursing homes in the state.
Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried sponsored a bill that would stop New York from opening more for-profit nursing homes and put a moratorium on expanding current ones. It's just one of 19 bills proposed by the Assembly aimed at for-profit nursing homes in the state.
"Lots of people have been discovering that there are enormous problems in our nursing homes. COVID may have brought them to light and made them worse, but a lot us know those problems have been there for many, many, many years," Gottfried said at a joint legislative budget hearing on health on Thursday.
Gottfried had a number of questions for state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, including why Gov. Andrew Cuomo called to reduce funding for organizations like the Long Term Care Community Coalition, a watchdog nonprofit advocating for nursing home residents.
"The governor has said that the issue of nursing home reform is one of the critical factors and he won't sign a budget unless three areas are addressed, and one of those is the issue of making sure we hold bad actors accountable," Zucker responded.
About 400 of the just over 600 nursing homes in the state are for-profit, according to a state Attorney General report.
During the hearing, Gottfried asked Zucker for a response to his proposed bill.
"Long before this pandemic, I have worked extremely hard at the issue of dealing with the geriatric population," Zucker said. "And this was one of the issues to address—the for-profit versus the not-for-profit."
Zucker said he was further discuss the topic with Gottfried outside of the hearing.
