Senate Bill S8497

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8497

SPONSOR: BIAGGI
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to repeal article 30-d of the public health law relating to the
emergency or disaster treatment protection act

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill repeals Article 30-D of the Public Health Law (colloquially
known as the Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act) with the
intent of holding health care facilities, administrators, and executives
accountable for harm and damages incurred.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the Public Health Law by repealing Article 30-D.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

              

 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):

This is a new bill.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

As the COVID-19 pandemic has progressed in New York State, it is now
apparent that negligence by administrators and executives of nursing
homes has occurred at an extraordinary degree.  The consequences have
been tragic: as of early May 2020, nearly five thousand of New York's
elderly and most vulnerable residents have succumbed to this disease,
and to date, there has been zero accountability nor transparency for
these preventable deaths.

The ELFA bill (A.9506/S.7506) in the FY 2021 state budget bills codified
Article 30-D of the Public Health Law. In particular, Article 30-D egre-
giously uses severe liability standards as a means to insulate health
care facilities and specifically, administrators and executives of such
facilities, from any civil or criminal liability for negligence. Repeal-
ing this article is a much-needed step to holding health care adminis-
trators accountable and doing everything possible to stop even more
preventable deaths from happening.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately upon passage.