Long-term care advocacy organizations are urging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to veto three bills related to the use of mandatory nurse overtime in nursing homes and home care agencies.
LeadingAge New York and the New York State Health Facilities Association are urging the governor to veto the bills, which would impose hefty penalties on providers that mandate nurse overtime and adds home care agencies to the mandatory overtime prohibition. The three bills would amend the existing Section 167 of the state’s labor law, which currently prohibits healthcare facilities from requiring nurses to work beyond their regularly scheduled hours except under limited circumstances.
“My nursing home members are being put in a difficult position where they are now going to be penalized if the RN staffing isn’t at a state-mandated level. At the same time, these bills would create a penalty for having RNs work mandatory overtime,” James W. Clyne Jr., president of LeadingAge New York, told the McKnight’s Business Daily.
“Unfortunately, these bills ignore the state’s nurse shortage and ask providers to sacrifice the well-being of patients and residents who have complex medical conditions and immediate nursing needs,” Clyne wrote in a letter to the governor.
Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of NYSHFA, the state affiliate of the American Health Care Association, told the McKnight’s Business Daily that the bills are both “flawed” and “shortsighted.”
Both executives said that the legislation ignores the state’s long-term care workforce crisis and that the penalties will place residents at risk.
Additionally, Hanse said, “They fail to acknowledge New York’s 14 years of underfunding of Medicaid, which prevents nursing homes from competing for workers in the labor market.”
Although having nurses work overtime is less than ideal, Clyne said that it sometimes is necessary, and it is unfair to penalize providers for giving residents the care they need.
“These shortsighted special interest bills must be vetoed, and all parties must work together to recruit and retain workers into a fulfilling career in long-term care,” Hanse said.
