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On June 22, 2023, New York State Public Health Law § 2802-b, added a Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) to the Certificate of Need (CON) process for certain health care facilities. The new requirement comes as part of larger legislative changes to the Public Health Laws passed in 2021. The new HEIA requirement applies to any CON applications submitted on or after June 22, 2023, except there is a partial carve out for Diagnostic and Treatment Centers whose patient population is 50 percent or more Medicaid eligible or uninsured. The Department of Health also issued regulations on June 29, 2023 (10 NYCRR 400.26). The purpose of the HEIA is to understand the health equity impact on a specific project, the impact it may have on medically underserved groups and to ensure community input and assessment are considered. The Department of Health has expressed that their vision is “to have health equity considerations meaningfully impact the planning and execution of health care facility projects.” (NYSDOH, Health Equity Impact Assessment, Webinar Series: Program Documents, September 14, 2023.)Continue Reading New York Implements Health Equity Impact Assessment as New Requirement for Certificate of Need Process

On Monday, October 2, 2023, the New York Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) published its Annual Report for 2022. The Report details the various efforts that New York’s Medicaid program undertook in 2022 to accrue $3.4 billion in recoveries and cost avoidance.Continue Reading New York OMIG Issues 2022 Annual Report

On May 2, 2023, legislators approved the $229 billion New York State FY 2023-2024 Budget Bill (“the Budget”), which was signed by Governor Hochul on May 3, 2023. Article VII of the Budget touches almost every aspect of the New York healthcare system, including home health, hospitals, laboratories, and reproductive health. It contains wide-ranging provisions that expand access to care, allow clinicians to provide more services, and allocate needed resources to providers. It targets Medicaid in multiple ways, including an extension of the Medicaid Global Cap on system-wide spending growth through FY 2025.[i] Here, we outline some of the key provisions that this Budget contains.Continue Reading New York Enacts Long Negotiated Budget Bill with Sweeping Implications for Health Care

On June 24, 2020 the New York State Department of Health (DOH) published formal notice of its June 5th emergency rule “necessary to clarify and strengthen the Department’s authority and that of the local health departments to take specific actions to control the spread of disease, including actions related to investigation and response to…

The New York Department of Health (DOH) proposed amendments and additions to 10 NYCRR 765 that would amend application processes for Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSA). These regulatory changes stem from the 2018 NY State budget, which established a two-year moratorium on LHCSA applications and stipulated certain changes to licensure requirements. If finalized, the proposed regulations will create new public need and financial feasibility requirements for LHCSA applications, in addition to the existing character and competence requirement, and will change what constitutes an application amendment requiring the approval of the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC).
Continue Reading New York DOH Proposed New Licensure Regulations for LHCSAs to be Effective April 1, 2020

On July 25, 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (SHIELD Act) into law. The SHIELD Act modifies the current Breach Notification Law to expand the types of data elements that are considered “private information” and to expand the data breach disclosure requirements for individuals and businesses. Moreover, the law creates a requirement that owners or licensors of private information meet a new “reasonable security requirement.”
Continue Reading SHIELD Act Becomes Law, Expanding Breach Notification and Data Security Requirements

On March 23, 2017, New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced settlements with three mobile health application (app) development companies aimed at curbing deceptive marketing practices and inadequate privacy disclosures to consumers. The settlements – reached with Cardiio, Inc., Matis Ltd., and Runtastic GmbH, respectively – target health measurement apps that “purport to measure vital signs or other indicators of health using only a smartphone’s camera and sensors, without any need for an external device.”

The Office of Attorney General (OAG) expressed concern that growing consumer reliance on health-related apps “can be harmful” if the apps provide inaccurate or misleading results because they could cause consumers to potentially forgo necessary medical treatment, or conversely incur unnecessary treatment, in reliance on false assurances of health provided by such apps. In the settlements the OAG highlighted apparent issues it had identified with each of the developers’ apps, including:

  • That both Cardiio and Runtastic created a “net impression” via claims made on their websites and in app store listings that their respective heart rate monitor apps would accurately measure and monitor a consumer’s heart rate “without providing sufficient evidence substantiating” their claims regarding the app’s accuracy; and
  • That Matis made unsubstantiated claims regarding its fetal heartbeat app’s ability to monitor and play the sound of a fetal heartbeat by placing a smartphone on a woman’s stomach.

Continue Reading NY AG Announces Settlements with 3 Mobile-Health App Developers Over Privacy, Marketing Concerns