New Pandemic Emergency Plan Provisions Enacted with Promise of Amendments

New nursing home pandemic emergency plan requirements signed into law last week will be amended to align with federal guidance, in all likelihood before the new requirements take effect in February. As currently written, the new law, Chapter 662 of 2022, requires more rapid family notification and a separate cohorting area in pandemic emergency plans. However, the Governor's approval memorandum indicated that she had reached an agreement with the Legislature to enact amendments when the Legislature reconvenes in January. LeadingAge NY had requested amendments to the legislation due to concerns with inconsistency with federal requirements. According to the approval memorandum, the law will be amended to require family notification and cohorting consistent with guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The new law relates to the elements of a facility’s pandemic emergency plan and is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 5, 2023. Accordingly, the law's requirements apply only to infectious diseases that are the basis of a pandemic. The requirements do not apply to every infectious disease.

According to the Governor’s approval memorandum, the law will be amended to require family notification by 5 p.m. of the next calendar day after detection of a confirmed infection or at an earlier time if required by CMS or CDC (i.e., the current CMS requirement for COVID-19). It will also require a plan for cohorting that is consistent with CMS or CDC guidance during an outbreak.

CDC cohorting requirements for COVID-19 can be found here, and CMS general infectious disease cohorting requirements for nursing homes can be found in the State Operations Manual, Appendix PP. CMS family notification requirements for COVID-19 can be found here.

Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org