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ICYMI: Gov. Kathy Hochul’s fiscal 2025 budget, finalized Saturday, includes a policy to protect New Yorkers from excessive medical costs. The policy prohibits hospitals from denying patients emergency or medically necessary care because they have unpaid medical bills and bars hospitals from suing individuals with incomes below 400% of the federal poverty level. The policy also requires hospitals to give free care to people below 200% of the federal poverty level and provide payment plans to those who make between 200% and 400%. Payment plans will also be capped at 5% of families’ gross annual income in an effort to prevent people from being overwhelmed by debt.
NURSING RULE: The Biden administration finalized nursing home staffing rules Monday that will increase the number of hours facility operators must provide to patients. Nursing homes will now be required to provide at least 3.48 hours of care per patient per day, an increase over the 3 hours proposed in a draft last year, and have a registered nurse onsite all day, every day. Registered nurses must give .55 hours of care while nurse aides will be responsible for 2.45 hours; it is unclear who will be responsible for the additional .48 hours. The mandate comes about two years after President Joe Biden committed to setting a national staffing minimum for nursing homes, a vow that the nursing home industry has met with backlash.
MOTION TO DISMISS: Mount Sinai Beth Israel filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the hospital’s looming closure Friday, according to court documents. The lawsuit, filed in February, alleges that the Mount Sinai health system has deliberately shifted staff and services away from Beth Israel to make it financially unsustainable. However, Beth Israel defendants argue that the judge should dismiss the suit because the plaintiffs’ argument is based on a misunderstanding of laws related to hospital closures. Beth Israel is slated to close in July.
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Jacqueline Neber , 2024-04-23 11:33:05
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