Amendments to NY PHL Article 28 require immediate attention, as they impact operator change of ownership applications, retention of employees upon a change of operation, AND new patient and staff disclosures upon admission and changes in operation.
Latest Status of Proposed New York Nursing Home Reform Legislation
Latest Status of Proposed New York Nursing Home Reform Legislation
As you are no doubt aware, the New York State Governor, the State Senate and the State Assembly have each recently introduced numerous bills aimed at reforming the New York nursing home industry, some with the potential to have drastic effect on the viability of the industry’s future. As we continue to monitor the status of the various proposals and we develop and evaluate potential legal challenges (depending on the passage of any bills into law), it is important that you remain aware of the status of the various bills and develop a strategy to lobby your representatives, for appropriate measures and against inappropriate ones.
Therefore, below is a reference chart that lists each key bill, summarizes its intent, and links to a website that tracks its status.
NY AG Fires its Shot Across the Bow Against the NY Nursing Home Industry
They say the best defense is a good offense. New York State has decided to adopt this strategy in an attempt to deflect blame for its own policy mistakes during the current pandemic. With its newly published Report, the NY AG makes quite clear that she is looking to use COVID as a pretext to launch a take-no-prisoners war on NY’s for-profit nursing home operators.
Major Changes to Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), Stark Law, and Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) Law Benefiting Providers
There is good news for health care providers this holiday season with HHS’s recent announcement of numerous revisions liberalizing the AKS, Stark and CMP Laws. Among the helpful changes are modifications to the popular AKS personal services and management contracts safe harbor for part-time arrangements, and new AKS safe harbors and Stark exceptions for care coordination activities that could benefit post-acute care providers.
Important Upcoming Amendments to N.Y. Public Health Law §2803
Increase Expected in Nursing Home Staffing Surveys and Other Recent News
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it will use payroll-based journal (PBJ) data to identify nursing homes that have several days in a quarter without a registered nurse (RN) on site, or have a significant decline in staff on the weekends. The States will be required to inspect such facilities and cite any non-compliance resulting from such surveys.
Election Fallout, NY Nonprofit Sales and Other Recent News
With Democrats in control of the New York State Senate for the first time in nearly a decade, it remains to be seen what the fallout might be for the health care industry. But one area where you can be sure to expect to see a push is legislation for mandatory staffing minimums in health care facilities.
DOH Exec Compensation Limit Struck Down; New CMS SNF QRP Data
SNF FY2019 Final Payment Rule
CMS has released its finalized FY 2019 skilled nursing facility payment rule, to be effective 10/1/19. As anticipated, this will include the new Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) replacing the Resource Utilization Group, Version IV (RUG-IV). The new rule is intended to simplify and reduce reporting costs and to result in a net increase of $820M in funding for SNFs.
CMS Seminar and Other Recent News
The New York Times published an article this weekend focusing on staffing concerns by CMS at skilled nursing facilities, and highlighting one upstate New York facility in its story. The story asserted that staffing levels are inadequate, but more so asserted that staffing measures are often flawed and do not accurately reflect true staffing levels.