What's happening
This bill imposes a moratorium preventing individuals or entities with poorly rated nursing homes from purchasing additional facilities in New York.
Why it matters
Strengthens accountability by requiring thorough disclosure. Buyers must report any medical facilities they or their spouses own (directly or via significant ownership stakes in entities), making it harder to obscure problematic ownership histories and improving transparency for regulators.
Links facility ratings to expansion rights. Applicants with facilities cited for noncompliance cannot buy new nursing homes until those problematic facilities maintain compliance for 24 consecutive months, creating a real incentive to improve care standards before expanding.
Prevents evasion through ownership transfers. Owners cannot sidestep restrictions by quickly selling off poorly rated facilities; even after a sale or relinquishing ownership, a 24-month waiting period and payment of outstanding fines are required before purchasing new nursing homes.
Targets systemic, not just individual, ownership issues. The bill covers individuals, their spouses, and any entities where they hold over 10% ownership, ensuring that both personal and business interests are scrutinized, thus closing loopholes that could allow repeat offenders to continue acquiring facilities under different structures.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Block Bad Owners Buying Homes
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to health
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Ban Bad Nursing Home Owners
In Assembly Committee · Health · Sponsor Stephen Hawley
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
112
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. ORTT -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to imposing a nursing home purchase moratorium on those who own or have owned failing facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The legislature recognizes the importance of holding nursing homes accountable in order to ensure a high quality of care. This body acknowledges department of health inspections as the method of holding nursing homes to our state's standards. The legislature also recognizes that nursing home operators who receive poor inspection grades are not meeting our state's standards.
The legislature intends to bar failing nursing home owners from acquiring additional nursing homes in this state until they have demonstrated an ability to keep their existing facilities up to standard.
§ 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2808-e to read as follows:
§ 2808-e. Nursing home purchasing moratorium. 1. For the purposes of this section, the term "owned facility" shall mean any facility disclosed under subdivisions two and three of this section.
2. Any individual attempting to purchase a nursing home shall disclose to the department which existing medical facilities that individual or that individual's spouse owns within the state. Additionally, such individual shall disclose whether any partnership, corporation, firm, society, or other entity of which that individual or that individual's spouse owns more than ten percent of or by which the individual or that individual's spouse is employed owns existing medical facilities in the state.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05389-01-9
S. 112 2
3. Any partnership, corporation, firm, society, or other entity attempting to purchase a nursing home shall disclose to the department any ownership of existing medical facilities in the state. Additionally, such partnership, corporation, firm, society, or other entity shall disclose to the department which medical facilities are owned by all individuals or spouses of individuals who own more than ten percent of such entity.
4. The department shall review standard health inspection and life safety health inspection records for all of an applicant's owned facilities.
5. In the event that one or more of an applicant's owned facilities has been cited for noncompliance in a standard health inspection or life safety health inspection, that applicant shall not be permitted to purchase a nursing home within the state until the owned facility or facilities in violation have been proven to be in compliance for twenty-four consecutive months.
6. In the event that one or more owned facilities has been cited for noncompliance in a standard health inspection or life safety health inspection and the owning individual, partnership, corporation, firm, society, or other entity sells the cited owned facility or relinquishes its ownership stake in the cited owned facility, that individual, partnership, corporation, firm, society, or other entity shall not be permitted to purchase a nursing home within the state until twenty-four months have elapsed since the change in ownership status and the individual or firm pays to the department a compliance fee equal to the amount of fines imposed at the time of citation.
7. All monies collected by the department under the provisions of this law shall be made available for use by the department for the purposes of executing this law.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to imposing a nursing home purchase moratorium on those who own or have owned failing facili- ties
Purpose or general idea of bill
To bar failing nursing home owners from acquiring additional nursing homes in this state until they have demonstrated an ability to keep their existing facilities up to standard.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 states the bill's intent.
Section 2 amends public health law by adding a new section 2808e. The new section requires disclosure of nursing home ownership. Under this section, if a nursing home is cited for health inspection violations, the owners of that facility may not purchase another nursing home in the state until their existing facility has been in compliance for two years. If the owners choose to sell the facility instead, they are blocked from buying additional facilities for two years, and must pay a fine. Lastly, the section authorizes the department to use any fines collected through this law to administer this law.
Section 3 sets the effective date.
Justification
The purpose of doing facility inspections is to hold facilities to state standards. Unfortunately, owners who do not meet state standards are still being permitted to purchase additional nursing homes.
As reported by Lou Michel in the December 6, 2018 edition of The Buffalo News, "New York State gave licenses to operate at least 10 Buffalo area nursing homes in the last decade to new owners who had been fined for providing poor care to residents at other nursing homes."
In order to ensure a high quality of care, it is critical that facility owners who have a history of falling below our standards are not able to subject additional residents to substandard care.
By creating a two-year moratorium for failing owners wishing to purchase additional nursing homes, owners have a strong incentive to get and keep their existing facilities in compliance with state standards. If an owners opts to sell a cited facility instead of bringing it to compli- ance, the moratorium nonetheless applies, and the owner is still subject to fines. This bill holds nursing home owners accountable and also protects against the expansion of substandard nursing homes.
Prior legislative history
New Bill.
Fiscal impact
Minimal
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.