Just under 200 nursing home workers at Weinberg Campus in Amherst are working without a contract while they weigh a job action should their fight for a multiyear contract stall.
Legislation’s progress so far
It was during a mid-February press briefing that Gov. Andrew Cuomo first publicly voiced support of New York state deciding how much nursing homes can profit.
“If you’re a for-profit nursing home, I believe it should be mandated how much you put back into the facility and how much profit you can make,” he said.
Cuomo later included the proposed profit cap, also called a medical loss ratio, as an amendment to his 2021 budget proposal. It would mandate nursing homes put at least 70% of their revenue toward caring for residents.
Both the state Senate and Assembly have since passed their own separate versions of the profit cap over the last five weeks. The two sides will need to come to an agreement if the legislation will become law, but both their bills would also mandate at least 70% of revenue go toward care.
SHARE
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rather than focus on the controversy surrounding the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, 1199 SEIU, which represents staff in the facilities, seized on the added spotlight to again push for reform.
"I don't want to focus so much on the executive order like it had some big impact although, it may have, but really the issue is going forward is finding a solution," Administrative Organizer Marshall Bertram said. "How do we fix these nursing homes that were struggling before this?"
The tactic, which included demonstrations and vigils across the state this week, seemed to work as Friday the governor announced a package of reforms he says he will insist need to be in the budget.
WBFO's Michael Mroziak reports.
Governor Cuomo has already hinted at reforms he'd like to see at for-profit nursing homes in the next state budget. Marshall Bertram, administrative organizer for 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East detailed some of them while appearing at an informational picket at the Weinberg Campus in Amherst.
Members of SEIU 1199 gather on the Weinberg Campus, holding one of several quiet pickets Thursday to call on statewide nursing home reforms.
Credit Michael Mroziak, WBFO
“There's a requirement that facilities spend a certain amount of the revenue on staffing and on direct resident care,” he said. “There are certain requirements that for-profit owners that run low one-star facilities are not able to buy more facilities, which has been a problem in the past, that bad nursing home owners could just keep perpetuating that by purchasing more facilities.”
Calls for nursing home reforms wkbw.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wkbw.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.