www.timesunion.com
Open in
urlscan Pro
151.101.64.200
Public Scan
Submitted URL: http://timesunion.com/state/article/130-nursing-homes-sue-block-ny-law-capping-profits-17895603.php
Effective URL: https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/130-nursing-homes-sue-block-ny-law-capping-profits-17895603.php
Submission: On April 14 via manual from US — Scanned from US
Effective URL: https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/130-nursing-homes-sue-block-ny-law-capping-profits-17895603.php
Submission: On April 14 via manual from US — Scanned from US
Form analysis 2 forms found in the DOM
GET /search/
<form class="pageHeader--search-form" action="/search/" method="get">
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="search">
<input type="hidden" name="firstRequest" value="1">
<input type="hidden" name="searchindex" value="solr">
<div class="fieldset">
<input class="pageHeader--search-input js-bound" id="search" name="query" type="text" value="" placeholder="Search" aria-label="search">
<button class="searchButton btn" value="" name="search" type="submit" aria-label="search"></button>
</div>
</form>Name: bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_form — POST
<form action="" id="bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_form" method="post" name="bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_form" novalidate="novalidate">
<label class="bc_nl-label" for="bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_email">Email</label>
<div class="bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_input_group">
<div class="bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_input_group_area">
<input class="js-bound" id="bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_email" name="bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_email" type="email">
</div>
<div class="bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_iput_group_item">
<button class="bc_nl_article_bottom_signup_button" onclick="bcTrackData('event','Article Bottom NL Signup Politics','click','Sign Up')">SIGN UP</button>
</div>
</div>
</form>Text Content
Skip to main content Turn off refresh
Currently Reading
More than 130 nursing homes sue to block NY law capping profits
Next Up:NY's budget late 4th year in a row and more delay...
* Subscribe SPRING SALE!
ONLY 25¢
* e-Edition
* Sign In
* Capital Region
* Best of the Capital Region
* Weather
* Education
* School closings
* Obituaries
* Health
* History
* NXIVM
* Local First
* Hudson Valley
* Sports
* High school
* Siena
* UAlbany
* Saratoga Race Course
* ValleyCats
* Albany Empire
* Pro sports
* New York
* State Government
* Cannabis
* COVID-19
* Business
* Women@Work
* Fun + Games
* Comics
* Puzzles
* Entertainment
* Events Calendar
* Art + Exhibits
* Movies + TV
* Music + Concerts
* Theater + Dance
* Were You Seen?
* U.S. + World
* Food + Drink
* Table Hopping
* Life + Culture
* Kristi
* Shopportunist
* Travel
* Weddings
* Faith + Values
* Special Reports
* Real Estate
* For sale
* For rent
* Virtual tours
* Opinion
* Subscribe
* Jobs
* Job fair
* Place an ad
* Classifieds
* Search classifieds
* Place classified ad
* Legal notices
* Place a legal notice
* Realtor ads
* Job listings
* About us
* Newsletters
* Privacy notice
* Terms of use
* How to advertise
* Subscriber Services
* Archives
* Capital Region
* Best of the Capital Region
* Weather
* Education
* School closings
* Obituaries
* Health
* History
* NXIVM
* Local First
* Life + Culture
* Kristi
* Shopportunist
* Travel
* Weddings
* Faith + Values
* U.S. + World
* Sports
* High school
* Siena
* UAlbany
* Saratoga Race Course
* ValleyCats
* Albany Empire
* Pro sports
* Entertainment
* Events Calendar
* Art + Exhibits
* Movies + TV
* Music + Concerts
* Theater + Dance
* Were You Seen?
* Hudson Valley
* Special Reports
* Classifieds
* Search classifieds
* Place classified ad
* Legal notices
* Place a legal notice
* Realtor ads
* Job listings
* About us
* Newsletters
* Privacy notice
* Terms of use
* How to advertise
* Subscriber Services
* Archives
* Business
* Women@Work
* Opinion
* New York
* State Government
* Cannabis
* COVID-19
* Real Estate
* For sale
* For rent
* Virtual tours
* Fun + Games
* Comics
* Puzzles
* Jobs
* Job fair
* Place an ad
* Food + Drink
* Table Hopping
* Subscribe
* Capital Region
* Best of the Capital Region
* Weather
* Education
* School closings
* Obituaries
* Health
* History
* NXIVM
* Local First
* Fun + Games
* Comics
* Puzzles
* Special Reports
* Sports
* High school
* Siena
* UAlbany
* Saratoga Race Course
* ValleyCats
* Albany Empire
* Pro sports
* New York
* State Government
* Cannabis
* COVID-19
* Hudson Valley
* Opinion
* Entertainment
* Events Calendar
* Art + Exhibits
* Movies + TV
* Music + Concerts
* Theater + Dance
* Were You Seen?
* Life + Culture
* Kristi
* Shopportunist
* Travel
* Weddings
* Faith + Values
* Subscribe
* Classifieds
* Search classifieds
* Place classified ad
* Legal notices
* Place a legal notice
* Realtor ads
* Job listings
* Real Estate
* For sale
* For rent
* Virtual tours
* Food + Drink
* Table Hopping
* About us
* Newsletters
* Privacy notice
* Terms of use
* How to advertise
* Subscriber Services
* Archives
* Jobs
* Job fair
* Place an ad
* Business
* Women@Work
* U.S. + World
* Capital Region
* Best of the Capital Region
* Weather
* Education
* School closings
* Obituaries
* Health
* History
* NXIVM
* Local First
* Hudson Valley
* Opinion
* Sports
* High school
* Siena
* UAlbany
* Saratoga Race Course
* ValleyCats
* Albany Empire
* Pro sports
* Fun + Games
* Comics
* Puzzles
* Subscribe
* Entertainment
* Events Calendar
* Art + Exhibits
* Movies + TV
* Music + Concerts
* Theater + Dance
* Were You Seen?
* New York
* State Government
* Cannabis
* COVID-19
* Classifieds
* Search classifieds
* Place classified ad
* Legal notices
* Place a legal notice
* Realtor ads
* Job listings
* Real Estate
* For sale
* For rent
* Virtual tours
* About us
* Newsletters
* Privacy notice
* Terms of use
* How to advertise
* Subscriber Services
* Archives
* Jobs
* Job fair
* Place an ad
* U.S. + World
* Life + Culture
* Kristi
* Shopportunist
* Travel
* Weddings
* Faith + Values
* Business
* Women@Work
* Food + Drink
* Table Hopping
* Special Reports
SPRING SALE: Only 25¢ for Unlimited Digital Access! ONLY 25¢ FOR ACCESS! ACT NOW
Persistent
RECOMMENDED
NY's budget late 4th year in a row and more delay expected
Former aide accuses assemblyman of sexual harassment, report says
More than 130 nursing homes sue to block NY law capping profits
Area hospitals would benefit from proposed Medicare rules
Court denies disability for police officer injured at desk
Churchill: Still no weed in the garden? What gives?
Health care workers continue push to boost Medicaid rates
Juul Labs paying $462M for creating 'youth vaping epidemic'
Overnight stays at Gov. Pataki's Adirondack farm in the works
New York to stockpile abortion pill in light of Texas ruling
New York State
MORE THAN 130 NURSING HOMES SUE TO BLOCK NY LAW CAPPING PROFITS
IT'S THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF COURT CASES THAT GROUPS REPRESENTING HOSPITAL
ASSOCIATIONS AND NURSING HOME FACILITIES HAVE FILED AGAINST THE STATE
Raga Justin
April 14, 2023
Members of the 1199SEIU rally in Albany on April 12, 2023. The union has backed
a Department of Health law that would require nursing home operators to abide by
a set of strict spending requirements; nursing homes recently called the measure
unconstitutional in a lawsuit filed last week.
Lori Van Buren/Times Union
ALBANY — More than 130 nursing homes are suing the state alleging that a
requirement to designate 70 percent of their profits for care of residents
represents “the most serious regulatory threat” facing the industry.
The controversy centers around a 2021 law included in that year’s budget that
required residential health care facilities to spend a minimum of 70 percent of
their total operating revenue on direct care for their residents, including at
least 40 percent of their revenue for resident-facing staff. The law was set to
go into effect in January 2022, but was delayed by a series of executive orders
and other regulatory holdups.
The lawsuit, filed late last week in state Supreme Court in Albany, names state
Department of Health Commissioner James McDonald and Budget Director Robert
Megna as defendants. It's the latest in a series of court actions that groups
representing hospital associations and nursing home facilities have taken in
recent years seeking to overturn the law.
SPRING SALE: Only 25¢ for Unlimited Digital Access!
ONLY 25¢ FOR ACCESS!
Act Now
Read More
Nursing home operators contend that what they contend is an “arbitrary,
capricious, and extremely damaging” statute poses grave risks to the industry
and to the quality of care for residents. The measure had been crafted by the
Legislature in response to pandemic-related concerns over how nursing homes were
spending their money as public outrage over the conditions in those facilities
began to escalate.
They have also criticized a provision that would require nursing homes that have
profits over a 5 percent cap to turn those funds over to a state-managed fund,
which would then disburse money as a reward to facilities that have met certain
standards for high-quality care. Nursing homes would also face monetary
penalties for failing to meet the 70/40 allocation rule.
In effect, the law forces nursing homes to turn over private and federal
Medicare dollars to fund the state’s Medicaid program, the lawsuit alleges. A
previous federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albany in 2021, right
before the law was originally set to go into effect, called the measure an
unconstitutional takeover of private property for public programs.
Groups who support the law have argued that it was intended to ensure
accountability in how nursing homes spend Medicaid funds, ensuring that most of
the funds received are spent on caring for residents — not administrative costs.
Studies cited by the 1199SEIU union representing nursing home care workers have
shown that under the law, an extra $510 million of funding would have gone to
resident care based on cost reports from 2019.
James Clyne, the president of LeadingAge New York — a group that filed a similar
state lawsuit last May that was later dismissed — said that while the nursing
home industry can comply with the rule, facilities want to ban the section of
the law that demands funds over the 5 percent cap be turned over to the state.
“The problem with the state is they're telling us what we have to do with other
people's money,” Clyne said. “They're not a party to the contract that we have
with either Medicare or with people who are private payers.”
Clyne also criticized a separate provision in the law that facilities have also
balked at, which establishes minimum staffing standards of at least 3.5 hours of
daily nursing care for each resident.
He said that some types of residential care facilities have different needs,
providing the example of a dementia unit versus a pediatric facility for
children with greater medical requirements. In the former, residents may need
less clinical care but more recreational activities, rendering the 3.5-hour
standard ineffective.
“One size does not fit all for every nursing home,” Clyne said, calling the law
“fundamentally flawed.”
Most Popular
1. The millionaire workers club at Stewart's Shops keeps growing
2. Court affirms removal of NXIVM doctor's medical license
3. Air quality health advisory in effect for Hudson Valley, other regions of
N.Y.
4. Body found at East Greenbush mobile home fire scene
5. Schoharie County farmer mourns loss of 34 goats in barn fire
But proponents and unions who back the policy have said the underlying premise
behind the law is meant to provide guardrails for how nursing home operators
allocate funds they already have, not unfairly penalize facilities.
“All the law requires them to do is to sort of shift their priorities,” said
Dennis Short, a policy analyst with 1199SEIU. “If they're not meeting the
standard, the easiest way to do so is to hire additional staff and spend more
money on supplies, increase wages or benefits.”
“If the money is intended to go to resident care, is it permissible to to use
taxpayer dollars to enrich owners?” Short added.
The majority of facilities already meet the standard, Short said. The law is in
effect, although no penalties have been assessed since nursing homes have not
released updated cost reports, Short said.
If the lawsuit is successful, no penalties would be assessed.
The lawsuit, which claims the law violates several protections under the U.S.
Constitution, including the Contracts Clause and Supremacy Clause, is seeking an
injunction that would bar the state Department of Health from enforcing any
penalties either in the future or retroactively.
Sponsored LinksSponsored Links
Promoted LinksPromoted Links
Healthy Guru
Cardiologist: Too Much Belly Fat? Do This Before BedHealthy Guru
Undo
Health & Welfare
These 2 Vegetables Will Kill Your Belly And Arm Fat Overnight!Health & Welfare
Undo
Kachava
Why people are so passionate about Ka’ChavaKachava
Undo
new york state'Daniel's Law' would shift NY response to mental crises away from
policeRaga JustinTimes Union
Undo
LeafFilter Partner
Roofers Tested 17 Gutter Guards… Here’s What They DiscoveredLeafFilter Partner
Undo
Blissy
The Perfect Mother's Day Gift: This Pillowcase Will Make Her Mornings
UnforgettableBlissy
Undo
WeightLoss
1/2 Cup Of This (Before Bed) Can Melt Your Belly Fat Like Never BeforeWeightLoss
Undo
Wolf & Shepherd
NFL Star Rob Gronkowski Loves These ShoesWolf & Shepherd
Undo
by Taboolaby Taboola
Most Popular
1. The millionaire workers club at Stewart's Shops keeps growing
2. Court affirms removal of NXIVM doctor's medical license
3. Air quality health advisory in effect for Hudson Valley, other regions of
N.Y.
4. Body found at East Greenbush mobile home fire scene
5. Schoharie County farmer mourns loss of 34 goats in barn fire
SIGN UP FOR THE CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL NEWSLETTER
Get in-depth news and political headlines from the Capitol team in your inbox.
Email
SIGN UP
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge that your
information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy.
Written By
Raga Justin
Reach Raga on
Raga Justin is a second-year Hearst fellow covering state politics for the Times
Union. She spent her first year covering Darien, Connecticut, as part of the
Hearst Connecticut Media Group. She is from Texarkana, Texas, and previously
worked for the Dallas Morning News in Washington, D.C., the Houston Chronicle
and the Texas Tribune. Raga graduated in 2021 from the University of Texas at
Austin, majoring in journalism.
Healthy Guru
Cardiologist: Too Much Belly Fat? Do This Before BedHealthy Guru|
SponsoredSponsored
Undo
Blissy
The Perfect Mother's Day Gift: This Pillowcase Will Make Her Mornings
UnforgettableSurprise Mom this Mother's Day with the 2023 must-have pillowcase!
Luxurious, silky-soft & cooling, it guarantees a perfect night's sleep. Moms
love the comfort & style—gift the ultimate sleep experience!Blissy|
SponsoredSponsored
Undo
WeightLoss
1/2 Cup Of This (Before Bed) Can Melt Your Belly Fat Like Never BeforeDrink This
Before Bed, Watch Your Body Fat Melt Like Crazy! (Try Tonight)WeightLoss|
SponsoredSponsored
Watch Now
Undo
Health & Welfare
These 2 Vegetables Will Kill Your Belly And Arm Fat Overnight!Health & Welfare|
SponsoredSponsored
Undo
Healthy Guru
What Actually Triggers Nail Infection, You Will Be ShockedHealthy Guru|
SponsoredSponsored
Undo
CBDistillery
Mayo Clinic Doctor Recommends CBD Gummies for RelaxationRecommended by Dr. Kevin
Frey, a Mayo Clinic-trained internal medicine specialist. Our CBD products
use 100% clean ingredients. No corn syrup or artificial colors, flavors,
sweeteners, or preservatives.CBDistillery|
SponsoredSponsored
Shop Now
Undo
*
*
*
*
Return to Top
* ABOUT
* Our Company
* General Standards and Practices
* Newspaper Delivery Safety Procedures
* Advertising
* Interest Based Ads
* Terms of Use
* Privacy Notice
* Your California Privacy Rights
* Jobs at the Times Union
* CONTACT
* Contact Us
* Weather
* School Closings
* Events Calendar
* Celebrations
* Obituaries
* Online Store
* Puzzles Palace
* SERVICES
* Subscriber Services
* Home Delivery
* Become a Carrier
* e-Edition
* Corporate Subscriptions
* Mobile App
* Copyright and Reprint
* Archives
©2023 The Hearst Corporation
THE SIGN IN SERVICE IS NOT FUNCTIONING RIGHT NOW.
PLEASE TRY AGAIN IN A FEW MINUTES
If the issues continue, please contact our customer service at
Phone:
Email:
PLEASE LOG IN TO VIEW YOUR PROFILE.
Sign In
Welcome back,
PROFILE SETTINGS
Sign up for newsletters, change password, activate digital access, and more
PROFILE SETTINGS
Sign up for newsletters, change password, add additional users to your
subscription, and more
SUBSCRIPTION & BILLING
Place a vacation hold, make a payment, and more
Sign Out
You must be signed in to comment
is currently signed in
Sign In