POLICY
Call to action: use your voice to implement change!
submitted by Lindsay Heckler, Esq. At the Center for Elder Law & Justice, we advocate for quality of life and quality of care improvements in WNY adult care facilities and nursing homes. Below are two advocacy actions residents, families, and their supporters can take to make their voices heard and improve the quality of life…
Read MoreThe New York State Department of Health must do more to ensure resident health and safety
The Office of the Comptroller released an audit that found the NYS Department of Health (DOH) efforts and transparency were controlled by the prior Executive’s narrative, and often misled the public, including when it came to the number of nursing home resident deaths. The audit also found that DOH was unprepared to respond to infectious…
Read MoreCELJ Testimony at the NYS Joint Legislative Public Hearing on 2022 Executive Budget Proposal: Topic Health/Medicaid
In New York, Identity Theft Is Elder Abuse
Erin Riker, Esq. – Technology-Based Legal Services Attorney New York has recently enacted legislation that legally classifies identity theft against an older adult as elder abuse. Although identity theft has always been illegal, this legislation gives the Office for the Aging and non-governmental agencies additional authority to provide services for seniors who are victims of…
Read MoreCurrent Nursing Home Visitation Requirements in New York State: What Visitors Need to Know
submitted by Bria Lewis, Esq., Staff Attorney On January 12, 2022, NYS Department of Health (DOH) updated their visitation guidance for nursing homes. These rules are in addition to CMS’ guidelines. CMS released an FAQ on December 23, 2021(recently revised on January 6, 2022) to provide clarification and examples on the visitation guidelines they released…
Read MoreCMS: Visitation in Nursing Homes is Allowed for All Residents at All Times
submitted by Lindsay Heckler, Supervising Attorney *UPDATE* NYS Department of Health directs nursing homes to follow CMS guidelines: visitation in nursing homes is allowed for all residents at all times. On November 16, 2021, the NYS Department of Health issued Dear Administrator Letter DAL-NH 21-27, accessed here, directing all nursing homes to immediately comply with…
Read MoreNYS Power of Attorney Law
Changes to the New York State Power of Attorney law took effect on June 13, 2021. While these changes to not impact existing Power of Attorney documents (completed before June 13, 2021), they do affect these documents moving forward. For more information on these changes and questions that you may have, please see our informational…
Read MoreNYS Department of Health Updates Visitation Guidelines for Nursing Homes and Adult Care Facilities
submitted by Bria Lewis, Esq., Staff Attorney On July 8, 2021, the NYS Department of Health (DOH) issued updated guidelines for visitation for both nursing homes and adult care facilities (ACFs). These guidelines supersede and replace any previously issued guidance regarding visitation. DOH states that regardless of how visitation is conducted, nursing homes and ACFs…
Read MoreEmergency Regulations for Personal Caregiving and Compassionate Caregiving Visitors are No Longer in Effect
submitted by Bria Lewis, Esq., Staff Attorney On June 1, 2021, the NYS Department of Health (DOH) issued emergency regulations for personal caregiving and compassionate caregiving visitors in nursing homes and adult care facilities (ACF), as established by 2801-h of the Public Health Law (PHL) and section 461-u of the Social Services Law (SSL). These…
Read MoreGender Recognition Act
Yesterday, the New York Senate passed the Gender Recognition Act, in a step to expedite and simplify the legal name and gender marker change processes, and benefiting the Transgender and Nonbinary individuals in particular. This bill has yet to be voted on by the New York Assembly. The Center for Elder Law & Justice is…
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