NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A2064
SPONSOR: Hawley
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to imposing a nursing
home purchase moratorium on those who own or have owned failing facili-
ties
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To bar failing nursing homeowners from acquiring additional nursing
homes in this state until they have demonstrated an ability to keep
their existing facilities up to standard.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 states the bill's intent.
Section 2 amends public health law by adding a new section 2808e. The
new section requires disclosure of nursing home ownership. Under this
section, if a nursing home is cited for health inspection violations,
the owners of that facility may not purchase another nursing home in the
state until their existing facility has been in compliance for two
years. If the owners choose to sell the facility instead, they are
blocked from buying additional facilities for two years, and must pay a
fine. Lastly, the section authorizes the department to use any fines
collected through this law to administer this law.
Section 3 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The purpose of doing facility inspections is to hold facilities to state
standards. Unfortunately, owners who do not meet state standards are
still being permitted to purchase additional nursing homes.
As reported by Lou Michel in the December 6, 2018 edition of The Buffalo
News, "New York State gave licenses to operate at least 10 Buffalo area
nursing homes in the last decade to new owners who had been fined .for
providing poor care to residents at other nursing homes."
In order to ensure a high quality of care, it is critical that facility
owners who have a history of falling below our standards are not able to
subject additional residents to substandard care. By creating a two-year
moratorium for failing owners wishing to purchase additional nursing
homes, owners have a strong incentive to get and keep their existing
facilities in compliance with state standards. If an owners opts to sell
a cited facility instead of bringing it to compliance, the moratorium
nonetheless applies, and the owner is still subject to fines. This bill
holds nursing homeowners accountable and also protects against the
expansion of substandard nursing homes.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A4938-07/13/20 held for consideration in health
A4938 - 05/10/22 held for consideration in health
 
FISCAL IMPACT:
Minimal
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2064
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. HAWLEY, NORRIS, ANGELINO, GALLAHAN, LEMONDES,
MANKTELOW -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to imposing a nursing
home purchase moratorium on those who own or have owned failing facil-
ities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The legislature recognizes the importance of holding nurs-
2 ing homes accountable in order to ensure a high quality of care. This
3 body acknowledges department of health inspections as the method of
4 holding nursing homes to our state's standards. The legislature also
5 recognizes that nursing home operators who receive poor inspection
6 grades are not meeting our state's standards.
7 The legislature intends to bar failing nursing home owners from
8 acquiring additional nursing homes in this state until they have demon-
9 strated an ability to keep their existing facilities up to standard.
10 § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2808-f
11 to read as follows:
12 § 2808-f. Nursing home purchasing moratorium. 1. For the purposes of
13 this section, the term "owned facility" shall mean any facility
14 disclosed under subdivisions two and three of this section.
15 2. Any individual attempting to purchase a nursing home shall disclose
16 to the department which existing medical facilities that individual or
17 that individual's spouse owns within the state. Additionally, such indi-
18 vidual shall disclose whether any partnership, corporation, firm, socie-
19 ty, or other entity of which that individual or that individual's spouse
20 owns more than ten percent of or by which the individual or that indi-
21 vidual's spouse is employed owns existing medical facilities in the
22 state.
23 3. Any partnership, corporation, firm, society, or other entity
24 attempting to purchase a nursing home shall disclose to the department
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00405-01-3
A. 2064 2
1 any ownership of existing medical facilities in the state. Addi-
2 tionally, such partnership, corporation, firm, society, or other entity
3 shall disclose to the department which medical facilities are owned by
4 all individuals or spouses of individuals who own more than ten percent
5 of such entity.
6 4. The department shall review standard health inspection and life
7 safety health inspection records for all of an applicant's owned facili-
8 ties.
9 5. In the event that one or more of an applicant's owned facilities
10 has been cited for noncompliance in a standard health inspection or life
11 safety health inspection, that applicant shall not be permitted to
12 purchase a nursing home within the state until the owned facility or
13 facilities in violation have been proven to be in compliance for twen-
14 ty-four consecutive months.
15 6. In the event that one or more owned facilities has been cited for
16 noncompliance in a standard health inspection or life safety health
17 inspection and the owning individual, partnership, corporation, firm,
18 society, or other entity sells the cited owned facility or relinquishes
19 its ownership stake in the cited owned facility, that individual, part-
20 nership, corporation, firm, society, or other entity shall not be
21 permitted to purchase a nursing home within the state until twenty-four
22 months have elapsed since the change in ownership status and the indi-
23 vidual or firm pays to the department a compliance fee equal to the
24 amount of fines imposed at the time of citation.
25 7. All monies collected by the department under the provisions of this
26 law shall be made available for use by the department for the purposes
27 of executing this law.
28 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.