New York cont’d

January 15, 2024

• Story in USA TODAY’s Lohud by David Robinson, “Feds approve NY's $7.5B Medicaid waiver plan. Can it bail out struggling hospitals?”.
  
  Our take: New York's "struggling" hospitals make billions every year. We think the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid’s (CMS) Medicaid waiver money would be better spent helping New York’s struggling healthcare providers -- the ones who actually take care of patients.

January 8, 2024

• Article in Newsday by Michael Gormely, “Gov. Hochul's 3rd State of State address to focus on affordability”.

January 5, 2024

• Story from Jack Arpey in State of Politics, “Lawmakers react as Hochul plans to propose health care changes in State of the State”.

January 4, 2024

• Article in City & State New York from Rebecca Lewis, “Assembly Member Latoya Joyner announces resignation days into session”.

December 29, 2023

• Report from Raga Justin in the Times Union, “Grieving Families Act bill vetoed by Hochul”.

December 19, 2023

• Reporting from Albany, story by the New York Times’ Grace Ashford, “Will Hochul Approve These Contentious New York Bills by Jan. 1?”

December 16, 2023

• Opinion special from Gus Carlson in the Globe and Mail, “When governments ban non-compete agreements, they shoot themselves in the foot”.

December 11, 2023

• Story by Jon Campbell in the Gothamist, “Future of noncompete agreements in NY in Gov. Hochul’s hands”.

December 6, 2023

• Article in the Wall Street Journal from Lauren Weber and Jimmy Vielkind, “New York Could Be the Latest State to Ban Noncompete Agreements”.

November 30, 2023

• Story from Joshua Solomon in the Times Union, “Hochul signals desire to preserve noncompetes for high earners”.

November 29, 2023

• Article in Crain’s New York Business by Nick Garber, “Battle over non-compete agreements agitates New York’s business world”.

November 27, 2023

• Op-ed in the Buffalo News from Dr. Christine Herde, “Liability legislation threatens access to reproductive care”.

November 27, 2023

• Article from Rebecca Lewis in City & State New York, “The bills still awaiting Kathy Hochul’s signature before the end of the year”.

November 2, 2023

• Op-ed in the Daily News from Rev. Al Sharpton, “New York State must ban non-compete agreements”.

  Our take: While Rev. Sharpton claims a ban on noncompete agreements would somehow help doctors, this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, he fails to mention how devastating SB100A would be to the state's independent medical practices.

  This bill being considered by Gov. Hochul would hurt the ability of small practices to hire doctors, retain them, and provide career training. It would also prevent the free sharing of confidential information. All of these are basic requirements for viable practices.

  Any noncompete legislation that’s enacted in Albany should either provide exemptions for highly-skilled professionals such as doctors or include an income threshold, just like in Washington State. Those are much better options compared to the policy in California that Rev. Sharpton endorses.

October 18, 2023

• Watch: Ad from the Public Policy Institute of NY State, “Shattered”.

September 18, 2023

• Article from Andrea Fox in Healthcare IT News, “New York community hospitals still impacted by Lockbit attack, weeks later”.

August 24, 2023

• Article in Crain’s New York Business, “Covid cases are rising in New York City—but it's nothing compared to previous surges”.

July 12, 2023

• Article in Bloomberg from Hema Parmar, Diana Li, Marnie Muñoz and Jesse Levine, “Wall Street Is Fighting New York’s Ban on Non-Compete Agreements”.

June 13, 2023

• Article in the Insurance Journal from Andrew Simpson, “New York Lawmakers Again Pass Wrongful Death Damages Bill. Is Another Veto in Store?”.

  Our take: Gov. Hochul showed terrific leadership by vetoing the Grieving Families Act in January. For New York’s patients, physicians, and businesses, she should do so again. This new version of the legislation would exacerbate New York’s already challenging patient access to care issues by exponentially expanding damages awardable in wrongful death actions. It would dramatically increase liability insurance costs across the state. And the new bill does not address the fundamental concerns raised by the governor’s veto message earlier this year about the dramatic impact this legislation would have on the state’s healthcare system.

May 3, 2023

• Analysis from Ropes & Gray LLP on enacted legislation that is notably different than Governor Hochul’s initial proposal as part of her executive budget, “New York Passes New Health Care Transaction Notice Requirements”.

April 22, 2023

• Executive order from Gov. Kathy Hochul, “Continuing the Declaration of a Statewide Disaster Emergency Due to Healthcare Staffing Shortages in the State of New York”.
  
  What’s really causing these staffing shortages? The answer is the governor’s pro-health insurance company and anti-provider policies.

April 10, 2023

• Must read article in STAT from Bob Herman, “UnitedHealth’s physician buying spree continues with takeover of Crystal Run”.

  Our take: UnitedHealthcare subsidiary Optum has just bought one of the largest independent medical groups in the state. How? UnitedHealthcare drives them out of business by paying unsustainable rates and then it takes over the group. Their monopoly grows, all too seemingly facilitated by officials in Governor Hochul’s office.

April 5, 2023

• Article in Crain’s New York Business from Jacqueline Neber, “As hospitals vie for state funding, new watchdog report shows some posted record balance sheets in 2021”.
  
  We ask: Where is the state’s help for medical practices who really need it?

March 23, 2023

• Report from Albany’s WNYT News, “Union healthcare workers rally over concerns about Hochul’s budget proposal”.

March 8, 2023

• Article by Errol Louis in New York Magazine, “Kathy Hochul Is on the Brink of 3 Wars With Her Own Party”.

March 1, 2023

• Article in Becker’s Hospital Review from Kelly Gooch, “New York sets aside $200M to expand 2 hospital EDs”.

February 28, 2023

• Written testimony from Action for Health and the State Care Network submitted to the New York State Senate and Assembly for today’s Health Hearing on the FY 2023-2024 Executive Budget Proposal.

February 26, 2023

• Article from Fox News, “NY Gov. Hochul’s controversial housing, tax proposals have some Democrats on edge: ‘Extinction-level events’”, highlighting the governor’s reckless proposal to substantially hike payroll taxes on MTA’s city-area employees.

January 31, 2023

• Article from the New York Times, “Hochul Vetoes ‘Wrongful Death’ Bill, Heightening Tension With Lawmakers”.

January 26, 2023

• Op-ed by 23 New York physicians in USA Today, “Hochul's LaSalle pick is unsurprising. She's also defunding union health benefits”.

January 9, 2023

• Op-ed by Claire Rush in Crain’s New York Business, “Hochul should veto poorly written wrongful death bill and convene an expert panel to start over” (print edition).

January 3, 2023

• Update from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP: “New York Governor Considers Amendments to State’s Proposed ‘Grieving Families Act’”.