BILL NUMBER: S5177               Revised 3/16/17

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.

              

 
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 to an extraordinary degree. 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 egregiously 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. Repealing this article
is a much-needed step to holding health care administrators accountable
and doing everything possible to stop more preventable deaths from
happening.

Attorney General Letitia James January 2021 report found that Article
30-D may have provided nursing homes with "financial incentives to put
residents at risk of harm by refraining from investing public funds to
obtain sufficient staffing to meet residents' care needs, to purchase
sufficient PPE for staff, and to provide effective training to staff to
comply with infection control protocols during pandemics and other
public health emergencies."' The consequences have been tragic: an esti-
mated 15,000 nursing home residents passed away from COVID.2 This bill
would repeal the protections granted to nursing homes, hospitals, and
other healthcare facilities, as recommended by Attorney General James.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020: S8497/A10427 - Died in Health

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately upon passage.
(1) https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021- nursinghomesreport.pdf
(2) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/nyregion/ cuomo-nursing-home-
deaths.html?  action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage