GNYHA, allied associations, and members’ nursing executives participated in a Joint Association Advocacy Day on May 1 in Albany to oppose a bill (A.1532/S.3330) that would mandate nurse staffing ratios in every hospital and nursing home in the State. The group met with Senators, Assembly Members, committee staff, and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s staff to deliver the message that forced, inflexible nurse staffing ratios would rob hospitals of the flexibility they need to make real-time patient care decisions, crowd out other valuable members of the care team, and be extremely costly to implement and sustain. Opposing the bill is one of GNYHA’s top priorities for the remainder of the legislative session.
On another front, GNYHA continues advocating for the creation of a health insurance guaranty fund in New York State. The fund would, in the event of a health plan’s failure, protect consumer coverage and reimburse health care providers for medical services rendered by levying a temporary assessment on other insurers (who would benefit from such a failure by gaining new customers and premium payments). New York is the only state in the country without a health insurance guaranty fund. GNYHA thanks Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) and Senator David Valesky (D-Syracuse) for reintroducing legislation to create this much-needed fund.