NY Lawmakers Advocate a $4 Billion Nursing Home Victims Compensation Fund in the Wake of COVID-19 Death Toll
October 8, 2021 in COVID-19
Since March of 2020, over 15,000 nursing home residents have died of COVID-19. In addition to grieving their losses, many of the deceased’s family members were barred from filing wrongful death lawsuits due a granted of immunity to health care facilities. Now, families of COVID-19 victims who resided in nursing homes may have a remedy to the injustice that occurred as a result of how former Governor Cuomo handled the pandemic in 2020.
Below, the New York attorneys at SPBMCC P.C. provide a brief overview of a proposed bill that, if passed, will provide financial compensation to families of seniors who died of the virus while in a care facility.
Severe NY Nursing Home Death Toll Prompts New Bill Proposition
New York State legislators are seeking to pass a bill—closely modeled after the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund—that aims to provide economic relief for families of COVID-19 victims who passed away under the care of a nursing home facility.
According to the bill memo, it will also seperately extend the statute of limitations for civil claims and causes of actions for COVID-19-related personal injury or death of nursing home residents. There is still no official state Senate sponsor for the legislation.
Assembly Member Ron Kim Details the Justice for Nursing Home Victims Act
Eligible families will be able to receive a minimum of $250,000 for every loved one who died of the virus, and spouses or dependents will be able to receive a minimum of $100,000, according to Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim.
“The Justice for Nursing Home Victims Act will make it very expensive for our state and the nursing home industry to commit eldercide. At the peak of the pandemic, it is abundantly clear that our state government’s only motivating factor was protecting industry profits over people’s lives,” said Kim, “We must make it prohibitively costly for others to harm older adults. To do otherwise would be to normalize ‘eldercide’ and enable the complete abandonment and neglect of older adults for ‘productive members’ of society.”
Speak with a New York Personal Injury Attorney for More Information
Many of us have loved ones who reside in senior living facilities and trust that their safety and health are prioritized within these facilities. Tragically, many of us have also lost family members living in nursing homes in the past year due to COVID-19.
While the proposed Justice for Nursing Home Victims Act cannot bring back the loved ones we lost due to COVID-19, it may help provide some financial relief for grieving families if it is approved. In addition to providing relief for grieving families, the bill aims to prevent such a tragedy from occurring in the future. To learn more about the proposed bill, contact our personal injury attorneys by calling (212) 732-9000 today or by filling out the form below.