POLICY Archives - Center for Elder Law & Justice

A.4416C (Gottfried) / S.3460A (Rivera) provides important consumer protections to residents and their families by deterring the worst abuses in Adult Care Facilities. The Center for Elder Law & Justice is urging our state legislators to support A.4416C / S.3460A in an effort to improve Adult Care Facilities, benefiting the lives of New Yorkers residing…

We welcome the July 10th announcement and corresponding guidance issued by the NYS Department of Health (“DOH”) to reopen visitation to nursing homes and adult care facilities. We are pleased to see that “visitors” is not limited, and includes family members, loved ones, long-term care ombudsmen, and resident advocacy organizations. Visitors play an essential component…

The Department of Health (DOH) announced on July 10 that that outside visitation and limited indoor visitation and activities can resume in nursing homes and adult care facilities so long as the facility meets specific benchmarks. We discuss what those benchmarks are and the limitations on visitation below. We encourage residents and families who have…

submitted by Kevin M. Quinn On June 30, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed into law the New York Tenant Safe Harbor Act (the Act), which provides further protections to tenants suffering from financial hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Act prohibits courts from ever evicting residential tenants who failed to pay their rent during the…

submitted by Lindsay Heckler, Esq. and Liam McMahon, Paralegal Call to action: use your voice to improve long-term care! There have been longstanding issues with transparency and communication on the guidance issued to nursing home and adult care facility providers by New York State and the New York State Department of Health. To assist the…

submitted by Kevin Quinn, Esq. The following memo was sent to Governor Andrew Cuomo to ask for passage of S.8113-A / A.10521-A, to issue a moratorium on utility termination of services during periods of pandemics and/or state of emergencies.

Recently, Governor Cuomo announced a focused effort to investigate nursing homes when they violate new requirements that impact resident safety (see https://elderjusticeny.org/new-york-state-nursing-home-inspections/). The state should focus on nursing homes that have a history of poor infection practices and insufficient staffing. In the August 2019 report from Long Term Care Community Coalition, 16 nursing homes in…

On April 23, Governor Cuomo announced a focused effort by the State Department of Health (DOH) and the State Attorney General (AG) to investigate nursing homes who violate Executive Orders that require nursing homes communicate COVID-19 test results and deaths to residents families. In addition, Governor Cuomo announced that DOH will inspect facilities that have…

YOUR Action is Needed to #ProtectMedicaid in the face of COVID-19. While Governor Cuomo has been a strong leader in battling COVID-19, his administration still wants to move forward with $2.5 billion in cuts to the Medicaid program. These cuts will harm 6.3 million New Yorkers who need Medicaid for their health care, including children, individuals with disabilities, and seniors. We are also particularly…

The Buffalo News story published today, “Through the glass, laughter and tears in visit to 107-year-old mom at nursing home” highlights the resilience of residents, families, and staff as we learn how to live through our current reality. The story also highlights concerns from residents, family and staff as they grapple with isolation, staffing concerns,…