Legislation

§ 4602. Commissioner; powers and duties. The commissioner shall have
the following powers and duties:

a. to receive applications from potential operators of continuing care
retirement communities and to distribute such applications for review to
the participating agencies;

b. to develop uniform forms for applications for certificates of
authority, to review the status of such applications, and to coordinate
the review of such applications in order to minimize duplication or
delay;

c. to provide information to entities wishing to establish continuing
care retirement communities and to persons interested in becoming
residents of such communities, to the extent appropriate, with concerns
relating to the operation of such facilities;

d. to issue certificates of authority to approved applicants;

e. to approve or reject applications to obtain a certificate of
authority for the establishment and operation of a continuing care
retirement community. In reviewing applications, the commissioner shall
consider the extent to which the applications reflect various
sponsorships, organizational structures, geographic dispersion, and the
public benefit. In determining the public benefit of a community
requiring construction of a total nursing facility component greater
than or equal to ninety beds, the commissioner shall obtain and consider
the recommendation of the public health and health planning council with
regard to the effect of the construction of the community's nursing
facility beds upon existing facilities in the same geographic area;

f. to require the reporting of such facts and information as the
commissioner may deem necessary to enforce the provisions of this
article;

g. to coordinate the oversight of operating communities and to assign
review and regulatory responsibility for particular aspects of such
communities to the appropriate agencies, consistent with their legal
authority, to assure consistent state supervision without duplication of
inspection or regulatory review;

h. to make such recommendations to the governor and the legislature as
may be necessary to encourage or further regulate the development of
continuing care retirement communities;

i. to establish and charge equitable and reasonable annual charges for
operators, not to exceed fifty dollars per approved living unit, to
subsidize, in part, expenditures incurred in reviewing applications for
certificates of authority and in inspecting, regulating, supervising and
auditing continuing care retirement communities;

j. to adopt rules and regulations and amendments thereto to effectuate
the provisions of this article;

k. to revoke, suspend, limit, or annul a certificate of authority
under conditions set forth in section forty-six hundred fifteen of this
article, including when such action is taken at the specific request of
any participating council agency. l. to carry out any other
responsibilities entrusted to the commissioner pursuant to this chapter
that may be necessary with regard to the health care activities of
continuing care retirement communities;

m. to make available to all prospective operators all pertinent
regulations regarding health and insurance necessary to comply with this
article;

n. to approve or reject applications for authorization by prospective
continuing care retirement community applicants, entities that have
filed an application for a certificate of authority and operators, to
enter into cancellable priority reservation agreements and to collect
refundable priority reservation fees from prospective residents;

o. to require the reporting of such facts and information as the
commissioner may deem necessary to determine whether characteristics of
residential health care demonstration facilities such as comprehensive
systems of residential and support services for the elderly may be
successfully incorporated into existing or approved continuing care
retirement communities;

p. to review and approve or reject applications by continuing care
retirement community operators to use entrance fees to assist the
operator in financing the construction or purchase of a proposed
continuing care retirement community in accordance with paragraph b of
subdivision six of section forty-six hundred ten of this article; and

q. to review and approve or reject any proposed financing by
industrial development agencies of continuing care retirement
communities pursuant to article eighteen-A of the general municipal law
as authorized by section forty-six hundred four-a of this article.