ACTION ALERT: Movement on ACF Penalties and Role of the Nurse in ACF Bills
In last week’s Legislative Bulletin, LeadingAge NY reported that the “Adult Care Facility (ACF) Penalties” bill and the “Role of the Nurse in ACF” bill were both on the State Senate Health Committee agenda for Mon., April 26th. Since the posting of the committee agenda last week, there have been two positive developments.
First, in the hours before the committee meeting, the ACF Penalties bill [A.196-A (Gottfried)/S.1576-A (Rivera)] was removed from the agenda. LeadingAge NY strongly opposes this legislation, which proposes an increase in potential penalties for ACF violations from up to $1,000 per day to $2,000 per violation per day – or $3,000 per day for a repeat violation. LeadingAge NY’s memo of opposition to the bill is available here.
While getting the ACF Penalties bill removed from this week’s Senate Health agenda is a positive development, we are not yet out of the woods. We are hearing that this piece of legislation remains a priority for Assembly Health Chair Gottfried, and during the April 26th Senate Health meeting, Chair Rivera mentioned that there were a “couple of things” that he wanted to address in the bill and noted that the bill would be on a future agenda. That said, it is critical that we keep up our advocacy against this harmful proposal to ensure that the Legislature does not further advance it. If we do not consistently oppose this legislation over the remainder of session (which will conclude on June 2nd), it is possible that we could see the State approve an increase in penalties to ACFs, even as providers are still reeling from the operational and financial losses of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please join us in opposing an increase to ACF penalties TODAY! CLICK HERE to send an email to your state lawmakers. It only takes a few clicks! Additionally, if your lawmakers sit on the Senate Health, Senate Finance, or Senate Rules committees, we strongly encourage you to give them a call and remind them that ACFs have received no financial support or relief from the State since the beginning of the pandemic. Doubling penalties while no financial support or relief has been provided will only accelerate the rate of ACF closures and reduce access to needed aging services.
Second, a bill that LeadingAge NY has long supported and advocated for was also on the Senate Health agenda for April 26th and has advanced to the Senate Finance Committee. Bill A.9575 (Solages)/S.1593 (Rivera), the Role of the Nurse in ACF legislation, would allow ACFs to directly employ licensed practical nurses (LPNs) or registered nurses (RNs) to provide limited, “episodic” nursing services. In brief, this proposal would do a great deal to enhance the quality of life and care for ACF residents while also using the state’s health care resources and workforce more effectively. LeadingAge NY’s memo of support for the Role of the Nurse in ACF bill is available here.
Please CLICK HERE to send an email to your elected officials TODAY, urging them to support the passage of our Role of the Nurse in ACF legislation! Additionally, if your lawmakers sit on the Senate Finance, Senate Rules, or Assembly Health committees, we strongly encourage you to give them a call and explain how this proposal would be helpful for your organization, your staff, and your residents.
Thank you for taking action on these two critical issues for ACFs! Please reach out to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org with any questions or if you would like assistance in identifying which committees your legislators sit on.
Contact: Sarah Daly, sdaly@leadingageny.org