CategoryCOVID-19 Newsletters

State Updates Governor Cuomo Announces Nursing Home Testing Support, Expanded State Testing Capacity Today (May 18th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that new hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 continue to decline in New York State, with 373 new hospitalizations and 106 deaths reported yesterday. To assist nursing homes with meeting…

Governor Cuomo Announces “Reopening” Updates Today (May 15th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he discussed the launch of New York’s “reopening” process, which begins today in five of the State’s ten regions, as per the Governor’s most recent Executive Order (see below). These regions will start Phase One of reopening, which involves resuming…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Announces Further Reopening Details Today (May 14th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that total hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 continue to decline. The Governor also announced that the North Country has now met all of the State’s reopening metrics and will join Central New York, Finger…

State Updates New York State Submits Request for COVID-19 Emergency 1115 Waiver On May 12th, New York State published the text of a proposed Section 1115(a) waiver request it has submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to address immediate needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. NYS is requesting $2.75 billion in federal…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Discusses Regional “Reopening” Plans Today (May 11th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that total hospitalizations, new hospitalizations, and deaths related to COVID-19 continue to decline. As a result, the statewide NY on PAUSE social distancing requirements will not be extended past May 15th and individuals and local…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Discusses Pediatric COVID-19 Related Cases, Extension of Child Victims Act Today (May 8th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that new hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 continue to decline slowly, with 604 new hospitalizations and 216 deaths reported yesterday. The Governor provided updates on the Pediatric…

Governor Cuomo Announces Results of Health Care Employee Antibody Test, New Rent Relief Directives Today (May 7th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced antibody testing results from a survey of health care workers conducted across 25 downstate health care facilities. Of the approximately 27,000 employees tested, the number of health care…

Governor Cuomo Announces Results of Hospital Survey, Plans for “Reimagining” Health Care Today (May 6th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced preliminary results from a survey completed by 113 hospitals over a three-day period regarding new COVID-19 cases. This survey was conducted to provide detailed information on new COVID-19 hospitalizations to…

Governor Cuomo Provides Details on Phased Reopening Plan Today (May 4th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that total hospitalizations, new hospitalizations, and deaths related to COVID-19 are continuing to decline. Addressing the State’s reopening plan, the Governor reaffirmed that certain regions will be permitted to begin reopening on May 15th based…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Extends School Closures, Seeks Targeted Info on New COVID-19 Hospitalizations Today (May 1st), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that the slow but steady decline in new COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths continues. In order to develop a targeted strategy for reducing the number of new hospitalizations, the…

Federal Updates CMS Issues New COVID-19 Regulatory Waivers  Today, CMS released a new set of waivers in response to the COVID-19 outbreak creating more regulatory flexibilities for Medicare providers, retroactive to March 1st. These waivers will: Add new services to the list of Medicare eligible telehealth services that may be provided with audio-only technology. This…

RISA Timeframes Extended During COVID-19 Emergency Today (April 29th), the Department of Labor (DoL) and Department of the Treasury released a final rule to extend the timeframe for covered persons’ rights to enroll in or continue health coverage under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). This guidance applies to ERISA-covered group health plans, disability…