New York S 8619: Establishes a statute of limitations to recover damages for personal injury or death of a resident at a nursing home during the COVID-19 state of emergency

Bill Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          8619
                    IN SENATE
                                     March 22, 2022
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
        AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to  estab-
          lishing a statute of limitations to bring an action to recover damages
          for  personal  injury  or death of a resident at a nursing home during
          the COVID-19 state of emergency; and providing for the repeal of  such
          provisions upon expiration thereof
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
     2  section 217-b to read as follows:
     3    § 217-b. Action to recover damages for personal injury or death  of  a
     4  resident  at  a  nursing home during the COVID-19 state of emergency. 1.
     5  The following words and phrases when used in this  section  shall  have,
     6  unless  the  context  clearly indicates otherwise, the meanings given to
     7  them in this section:
     8    (a) "Nursing home" shall have the same meaning as defined  in  section
     9  twenty-eight  hundred  one  of  the  public health law and shall include
    10  adult homes, enriched housing programs, assisted living  residences  and
    11  residential health care facilities as defined in such section.
    12    (b)  "Resident"  means a decedent who was a resident of a nursing home
    13  located in the state and COVID-19 caused or contributed  to  such  resi-
    14  dent's  death, as documented on such resident's death certificate, or as
    15  certified by a physician, nurse practitioner, or  physician's  assistant
    16  currently  in good standing in any state or the District of Columbia, or
    17  a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant authorized  to
    18  practice  in  New  York  by executive order during the declared COVID-19
    19  state of emergency who determines with a reasonable  degree  of  medical
    20  certainty  that  COVID-19 caused or contributed to the resident's death.
    21  Resident shall include any temporary resident of a nursing home  who  is
    22  receiving subacute rehabilitation care or temporary rehabilitation care.
    23    (c)  "The  novel  coronavirus  pandemic (COVID-19)" shall refer to the
    24  period of the state of emergency declared by executive order two hundred
         EXPLANATION--Matter in  (underscored) is new; matter in bracketsitalics
                              [] is old law to be omitted. 
                                                                   LBD14453-01-2

        S. 8619                             2
     1  two on March seventh, two thousand twenty in response to the outbreak of
     2  the novel coronavirus.
     3    2.  Notwithstanding  any  provision  of law to the contrary, all civil
     4  claims or causes of action brought by any person for damages  against  a
     5  nursing  home  for  personal  injuries or the death of a resident during
     6  COVID-19, including an action pursuant to section  twenty-eight  hundred
     7  one-d  of the public health law, may be commenced within two years after
     8  the effective date of this section.
     9    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall  expire  and  be
    10  deemed repealed January 1, 2035.