Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill repealing existing legislation shielding New York nursing homes from COVID-19 liability claims.
S5177, signed by Cuomo on Tuesday, rolled back the “Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act,” which “protect[ed] health care facilities and health care professionals from liability that may result from treatment of individuals with COVID-19 under conditions resulting from circumstances associated with the public health emergency.”
“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 bill said, adding, “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.”
Assemblyman Ron Kim, a co-sponsor of the legislation and frequent Cuomo critic, celebrated the development on Twitter.
“With the repeal of the corporate legal immunity & this year’s budget, we are taking a major step toward a caring economy,” he wrote.
Thank you @SenatorBiaggi for your persistence. With the repeal of the corporate legal immunity & this year’s budget, we are taking a major step toward a caring economy. https://t.co/I23gi8VmwG
— Ron T. Kim (@rontkim) April 7, 2021
State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, the legislation’s sponsor in the New York state Senate, acknowledged “those who lost loved ones in nursing homes” for “their tireless advocacy and persistence” on behalf of the bill.
#BREAKING: Governor Cuomo has signed S5177 into law to fully repeal the blanket immunity NY granted healthcare facilities and nursing homes.
Tonight I am thinking of those who lost loved ones in nursing homes. This moment is thanks to their tireless advocacy and persistence.
— Alessandra Biaggi (@SenatorBiaggi) April 7, 2021
Representatives for Cuomo did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
The governor’s signing of a March 25 executive order offering liability protections to nursing homes that admitted COVID-19-positive patients resulted in underreporting of nursing home death tolls, according to Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor.
“Basically, we froze,” DeRosa told state lawmakers in February, explaining the administration undercounted deaths out of fear of political retribution by former President Donald Trump.
A report conducted by the Empire Center for Public Policy, a government watchdog group, found Cuomo’s directive was linked to over 1,000 additional deaths.
Also, in recent months, the governor has faced another scandal involving mounting claims of sexual harassment against him. While Cuomo repeatedly denied claims of inappropriate touching, a total of 10 women have lobbed allegations at him.
The sexual harassment scandal has resulted in two investigations: Attorney General Letitia James is investigating the claims at the state level, and New York state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has initiated an “impeachment investigation” in the state Legislature.
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There have been 3,695 deaths attributed to COVID-19 among New York nursing home residents, according to data released by the state’s health department on Monday.
Cuomo, who has repeatedly resisted calls to resign, is eligible for reelection in 2022.
