New: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) covered up the scale of COVID-related nursing home deaths.
His counterpart in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy (D), tried to learn from his mistakes.
I looked at what the neighboring governors did differently:
huffpost.com/entry/andrew-c…
His counterpart in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy (D), tried to learn from his mistakes.
I looked at what the neighboring governors did differently:
huffpost.com/entry/andrew-c…
-- Nursing home medical professionals and advocates for residents felt that they had an audience with Gov. Murphy's team.
Not so in New York.
“It was like talking to a wall. We told them to give [our members] a call. And we got nothing,” @PALTC_Chris.
Not so in New York.
“It was like talking to a wall. We told them to give [our members] a call. And we got nothing,” @PALTC_Chris.
-- On paper at least, this insight translated into smarter policy.
New Jersey took a more lenient approach toward nursing homes, offering help adhering to COVID guidelines. The state did not explicitly forbid turning away COVID-positive hospital patients.
New Jersey took a more lenient approach toward nursing homes, offering help adhering to COVID guidelines. The state did not explicitly forbid turning away COVID-positive hospital patients.
“Pretty clearly, the New York approach was the worse of the two,” said @gusmano_mk. 
-- New Jersey also passed a law shielding health care providers from legal liability for alleged damages incurred while administering care in the pandemic.
But critically, unlike New York, the state did not suspend medical record-keeping requirements.
But critically, unlike New York, the state did not suspend medical record-keeping requirements.
-- NJ's nursing home situation was still tragic and messy.
The biggest contrast came in the two governors' respective responses to blowback from critics.
Cuomo tried to shut down critics with obfuscation.
Murphy commissioned an audit and moved to adopt reforms right away.
The biggest contrast came in the two governors' respective responses to blowback from critics.
Cuomo tried to shut down critics with obfuscation.
Murphy commissioned an audit and moved to adopt reforms right away.
The Trump DOJ went after the Democratic governors of NJ, NY, Pa. and Mich. As @ryanjreilly reported at the time, it was a political move: huffpost.com/entry/coronavi…
But only Cuomo appears to have used it as an excuse to continue hiding nursing-home death data from state lawmakers.
But only Cuomo appears to have used it as an excuse to continue hiding nursing-home death data from state lawmakers.
“Though the timing of inquiries in the months before the election raised red flags about their political nature, we took it seriously. We responded appropriately, and continued to report data in an accurate and timely manner," Murphy administration official.
Pa. government told me they always counted the deaths of nursing-home residents who died in hospitals toward the total of nursing home deaths. (So did California, which wasn't targeted by the DOJ.)
“If the DOJ inquiry comes and your answer is, ‘We didn’t know what numbers we were going to give them and also give you [the lawmakers],’ that’s not OK," @Biaggi4NY (@SenatorBiaggi) ...
... “It’s so clear that what they were trying to do was report lower numbers for not only their image but also so that they would evade a DOJ investigation. What?! That’s crazy.”
Stay on the lookout for a more aggressive state legislature as the drafting of New York's budget takes shape over the next few weeks.
“The governor is not in a position of strength,” @JuliaCarmel__ said.
“The governor is not in a position of strength,” @JuliaCarmel__ said.
From the cutting-room floor: @LTCconsumer's Richard Mollot told me Cuomo is worst NY governor on nursing-home issues since Mollot took over the group in 2002.
"Pataki was really terrible on these issues, but I think, frankly, the Pataki administration -- they were better."
"Pataki was really terrible on these issues, but I think, frankly, the Pataki administration -- they were better."
.@TimBalk and @SlatteryNYDN did great work documenting how the hospital and nursing-home industries filled Cuomo's campaign coffers when he was drafting the budget that shielded them from liability: nydailynews.com/news/politics/…
Tim and Denis may have just scratched the surface though, because plenty of financiers with major health care investments are also big Cuomo donors and their analysis just looked at direct health care industry donations ...
... For example, I found that Larry Robbins, founder of Glenview Capital Management, which bought Brookdale Senior Living in 2019 (prnewswire.com/news-releases/…), contributed almost $70k to Cuomo this past July.
A look at Glenview's other investments: fintel.io/i/glenview-cap…
A look at Glenview's other investments: fintel.io/i/glenview-cap…
Glenview, a hedge fund, initially lost a lot of money on its traditional health care investments during the pandemic, such as Bausch pharmaceuticals: reuters.com/article/us-hed…
That stock has since bounced back.
That stock has since bounced back.
Brookdale's stock has also bounced back.
But would the latter be true if the threat of lawsuits were hanging over it?
Brookdale has 21 facilities in New York state: brookdale.com/en/locations/n…
But would the latter be true if the threat of lawsuits were hanging over it?
Brookdale has 21 facilities in New York state: brookdale.com/en/locations/n…
One other item: At the height of the pandemic, Murphy made a decision to play ball with Trump in the hopes of getting better treatment for NJ. Cuomo never did.
politico.com/states/new-jer…
politico.com/states/new-jer…
Finally, this article could have been more even-handed if Cuomo's press team had gotten back to me.
Genuine bummer.
Genuine bummer.
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