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A03139 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          3139
 
                               2013-2014 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 23, 2013
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. GOTTFRIED, CLARK, DINOWITZ, ORTIZ, TITUS, ENGLE-
          BRIGHT, PAULIN -- Multi-Sponsored by  --  M.  of  A.  AUBRY,  BRENNAN,
          CAHILL,  COLTON,  GUNTHER,  HOOPER,  JACOBS, JAFFEE, LIFTON, ROBINSON,
          SWEENEY, WEISENBERG, WRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Health
 

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to  establishing  the
          nursing home diversion program
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that
     2  in many New York state nursing homes, residents are not getting adequate
     3  or proper care.
     4    Adequate direct nursing care is especially important to the health and
     5  safety of nursing home residents.    A  recent  congressionally-mandated
     6  study  by  centers  for medicare and medicaid services concluded that if
     7  nursing home residents receive less than three hours a day per  resident
     8  of direct nursing care, they are "substantially at risk of quality prob-
     9  lems."
    10    If  a  nursing home is not providing its residents adequate and proper

    11  food, bedding, heating, cooling, or nursing care,  it  is  dangerous  to
    12  place additional residents in that nursing home.
    13    Therefore,  the  legislature  establishes  the  nursing home diversion
    14  program, to provide that in the event that a nursing home is not provid-
    15  ing its residents adequate and proper food, bedding,  heating,  cooling,
    16  or  nursing  care,  it  shall  not admit new residents until it provides
    17  adequate and proper care.
    18    § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new  section  2808-e
    19  to read as follows:
    20    §  2808-e.  Nursing  home diversion. 1.   Definitions. As used in this
    21  section, unless the context clearly requires  otherwise,  the  following
    22  terms have the following meanings:
    23    (a)  "Basic  standard  of care" means any of the standards of care set

    24  out in subdivision five of this section.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01444-01-3

        A. 3139                             2
 
     1    (b) "On diversion" means the state of being subject  to  nursing  home
     2  diversion and required to suspend admissions under this section.
     3    2.  When  to  place  on diversion. (a) Wherever a nursing home has not
     4  been providing one of the basic standards of care for  a  period  of  at
     5  least  forty-eight consecutive hours, it shall immediately be subject to
     6  nursing home diversion and shall immediately notify  the  department  of

     7  that fact and the reasons for it.
     8    (b)  Whenever  the  department  determines that a nursing home has not
     9  been providing one of the basic standards of care for  a  period  of  at
    10  least  forty-eight consecutive hours, the nursing home shall immediately
    11  be subject to nursing home diversion and the department shall immediate-
    12  ly notify the nursing home of that fact and the reasons for it.
    13    3. Diversion; consequences. (a) When a nursing home is  on  diversion,
    14  it  shall  not admit any additional persons as a resident of the nursing
    15  home.  However, a person who has been a resident of the nursing home but
    16  has been temporarily absent from the nursing home may be re-admitted  to
    17  the nursing home even when it is on diversion.

    18    (b)  The department shall immediately notify appropriate hospitals and
    19  nursing homes that the nursing home is on diversion, and shall  place  a
    20  notice  on  its  website  that the nursing home is on diversion. While a
    21  nursing home is on diversion, it shall notify any  person  or  represen-
    22  tative  of  a  person who applies for admission that it is on diversion,
    23  and shall place a conspicuous, easily-readable  notice  that  it  is  on
    24  diversion  where  it  will  be  readily seen by residents of the nursing
    25  home.
    26    4. Termination of diversion. (a) A nursing  home  on  diversion  shall
    27  remain  on  diversion until it has resumed providing all basic standards
    28  of care for at least six consecutive days, at which time it  may  notify

    29  the  department  that  it  is  complying with this subdivision and is no
    30  longer on diversion. The nursing home may then  resume  admitting  resi-
    31  dents.
    32    (b)  The  department  shall then immediately so notify every entity it
    33  had notified that the nursing home  was  on  diversion  and  delete  the
    34  notice  from the department's website. The nursing home shall remove the
    35  notice it had posted that it was on diversion.
    36    5. Basic standards of care. The basic standards of care  for  purposes
    37  of  this section are the following, including compliance with department
    38  regulations relating to the following:
    39    (a) Adequate quantity and quality of food for each resident.
    40    (b) One bed for each resident, with appropriate bedding.

    41    (c) Adequate heating and cooling of all parts of the nursing home.
    42    (d) Adequate direct care nursing staff. This means, for each  day,  an
    43  average  of  at  least  three hours of direct nursing care per resident,
    44  including at least one hour of care by a registered nurse or a  licensed
    45  practical  nurse,  of  which  at least thirty minutes shall be care by a
    46  registered nurse.
    47    6. Compliance.   The department shall  monitor  compliance  with  this
    48  section  through  audits,  inspections,  required  reporting  by nursing
    49  homes, and other appropriate means.
    50    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    51  it shall have become a law, provided, however, that effective immediate-

    52  ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal  of  any  rule  or  regulation
    53  necessary  for  the  implementation of this act on its effective date is
    54  authorized and directed to be made and completed by  the  department  of
    55  health on or before such effective date.
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