Month: August 2021

The Hero Act Deadlines You Need to Know

Since COVID-19 entered our lives and disrupted our normal protocols, reassessing workplace safety has been on every employer’s mind, especially within hands-on industries like construction work.

In response to the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act) into law on May 5, 2021, which mandates extensive new workplace health and safety protections. The goal? To protect employees against exposure and disease during a future airborne infectious disease outbreak.

While employers must adopt plans as required by the law, as of the date of this writing no designation has been made and plans are not required to be in effect until the New York State Commissioner of Health designates an airborne infectious disease as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health.

Under this new law, the New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL), in consultation with the NYS Department of Health, has developed a new Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standard, a Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan, and various industry-specific model plans for the prevention of airborne infectious disease. Employers can choose to adopt the applicable policy template/plan provided by NYS DOL or establish a different plan that meets or exceeds the standard’s minimum requirements. We highly recommend that employers opt to use the DOL authorized template to ensure there is no mystery or uncertainty surrounding compliance.

To comply with the HERO Act, it’s vitally important to keep employees in the loop and to stay aware of the latest NYS DOL information available. Right now it’s important for construction companies to:

Establish an Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan by August 5, 2021,and post the plan at worksites and distribute the plan to all employees within 30 days after adoption, or by September 4, 2021, at the latest
Designate supervisory individual(s) responsible for enforcing the plan
Gather employee feedback to incorporate into the plan
Integrate the plan into the employee handbook

So, can your company face financial fines if it chooses not to adopt a plan within the timeframe?

Yes. Employers are subject to civil penalties of at least $50 per day for failure to adopt a plan, and not less than $1,000 or more than $10,000 for failure to abide by an activated plan. Repeat violations may result in increased penalties.

Are there any upcoming HERO Act deadlines to keep in mind?

Yes. It’s important to note that a second section of the HERO Act, effective November 1, 2021, allows employees to form a joint labor-management workplace safety committee. The committee must be comprised of both employer and employee designees, with at least two-thirds nonsupervisory employees who are chosen by nonsupervisory employees. The Act authorizes committees to:

Raise health and safety concerns, to which employers must respond
Review health and safety policies enacted in response to laws, executive orders, or guidance
Participate in government workplace site visits
Review employer-filed reports related to workplace health and safety
Meet quarterly during working hours for up to two hours
Allow committee members to attend a training, not to exceed four hours, on occupational health and safety and the function of worker safety committees

While the best approach may be to proactively form a safety committee by November 1, the Act does not require employers to establish a committee at this time but instead requires employers to allow employees to form such a committee.

THE DOL will likely publish future guidance on how to best communicate this information to employees. However, we advise all union employers to preemptively check their collective bargaining agreements to see if the safety committee requirements conflict, as the terms of the committees will most likely be subject to bargaining.

In summary, employers must be aware of several deadlines to protect their employees and avoid hefty violation fines.

Firstly, ensure you have distributed your company’s Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan to employees no later than September 4, 2021, or face civil penalties. Designate supervisory individual(s) to conduct a verbal review of the plan in the event of an outbreak. Additionally, it’s a good idea to obtain and properly store personal protective equipment and other exposure controls in preparation for future infectious disease outbreaks. Lastly, consider establishing a joint labor-management safety committee by November 1, 2021. It’s also a best practice to closely monitor the NYDOL website as an updated status could trigger Prevention Plans to become effective. Don’t hesitate to act. This plan can be implemented with expert guidance.

Is Telehealth Helping or Hurting Healthcare’s Bottom Line

For years, widespread telehealth adoption was stunted because of strict rules about how doctors could bill. As we all know, the pandemic completely launched these services into the spotlight, as doctors and patients needed efficient ways to stay connect while being physically apart. At the height of the pandemic, officials added 140 telehealth services to the list of what Medicare would pay for during the pandemic, including emergency visits, eye exams, speech and hearing therapy and nursing home care. After an initial telehealth spike to more than 32 percent of office and outpatient visits in April 2020, national use levels now range from 13 to 17 percent across all specialties. But don’t let the drop-off fool you into thinking telehealth is just a passing fad. The current utilization rate reflects more than two-thirds of what experts anticipated as visits that could be virtualized. In a nationwide poll last year, 8 in 10 Americans who had used telehealth said they “liked it” or “loved it.” Nearly the same share said they were likely to continue using it after the pandemic, according to the survey by the Harris Poll.

So, what about patient and physician cost savings?

A study from the American Journal of Emergency Medicine shows that remote care saved an average of $19-$121 per patient through an online consultation compared to traditional doctor visits. Virtual visits can improve patient engagement with check-ins, medication monitoring, and chronic condition management. Many physicians have noted a major decline in patients missing appointments since the adoption of telehealth visits, and a higher patient retention rate within your practice means a more steady revenue stream. Plus, since telehealth hours can be more flexible that traditional in-office visits, people will be more inclined to find a time that works with their primary physician rather than scheduling an appointment with someone new, or making an unnecessary emergency room visit. After all, any medical visit your patients make outside of your practice is lost revenue that you could be earning. Telehealth brings access to millions of new patients so they can get the proper care they need. New patients for your staff members to care for generates more revenue, and creates an overall healthier society.

Will workflow improve?

For many healthcare systems, telemedicine software means digitizing the workflow. We can actually see your staff members jumping for joy when they consider the reduction in physical paperwork and lost medical records. Speaking of saving money and increasing efficiency, providers can also maximize their workflow by incorporating telehealth software into waiting room options, enabling more accurate, less time-intensive billing practices. In a recent USA Today interview, former senior medical official at health insurance giant Anthem, Dr. Hoangmai Pham, believes there is a lot of opportunity for healthcare providers. Pham noted insurers could reward physicians and hospitals that take greater responsibility for their patients’ overall health with higher rates for telehealth.

What does the future hold for telehealth?

Some regulatory changes that enabled telehealth to grow have been made permanent, for example, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ expansion of reimbursable telehealth codes for the 2021 physician fee schedule. However, the fate of other services that may lose their waiver status when the public health emergency ends remains unknown. What we know for sure is that virtual healthcare models are evolving and expanding to a range of services, integrating telehealth with other virtual health solutions, and adding hybrid virtual and in-person care models. The reality is telehealth and virtual medical care is likely to explode in the coming years. The annual global telehealth market is expected to top $300 billion by 2026, up nearly fivefold from 2019, according to research company PitchBook. These new approaches are creating the potential to improve patient convenience, access, health outcomes, and affordability.

Sources: McKinsey, American Journal of Emergency Medicine, USA Today, FS Health, Physicians on Fire

Millions in Funding Headed to NY Libraries

More than $6.2 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds are available to help libraries

and other cultural institutions across the state, State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced just last week. The federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded the ARPA funds to the New York State Library to help communities respond directly to the pandemic and related economic and community needs. The State Library will allocate more than $5.5 million to the nine regional Reference and Research Library Resources Councils to implement three priority programs:

advancing digital inclusion
encouraging library/museum partnerships
expanding student access to digital resources

“Libraries are critically important to communities, playing a crucial part in New York’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said. “There is a moral and an economic imperative to remove the inequities that stand in the way of success for whole segments of our student population, as highlighted when school buildings were shut down and many students had little or no access to remote learning. Staff at libraries statewide stepped up to help students and families during the crisis and are doing so again by helping to provide more equitable access to digital services.”

You might be wondering, how this will impact your school library.

The regional library councils will collaborate with public library systems, school library systems and other libraries, museums and cultural repositories to address New York’s three priority programs and meet federal and state goals. Libraries and systems are strongly encouraged to partner with each other and with other community, education and cultural organizations in their region on collaborative projects. Each library council is required to submit an application to the State Library demonstrating accordance with IMLS ARPA guidelines. In accordance with funding requirements, New York State must expend this $6.2 million by September 30, 2022.

Want to learn more about how much funding is headed to your region?

Visit the State Library’s website to see the allocation available for each regional library council. The State Library anticipates issuing detailed guidance, including a timetable and application instructions to the nine regional library councils, by early September 2021. The regional library councils must complete all project activities by June 30, 2022. The State Library, State Museum and State Archives will also use $700,000 to improve and expand access to the Office of Cultural Education’s services for all New Yorkers through a range of collaborative initiatives including to:

Build upon the 2021 Digital Equity Summit recommendations by providing expertise, training and tools to support implementation of collaborative Digital Inclusion solutions statewide;
Partner with public library systems and libraries to conduct a broadband infrastructure needs assessment for small and rural public libraries in New York;
Collaborate with organizations across the state to create a diversity, equity and inclusion framework and toolkit for libraries, museums and cultural institutions;
Digitize and make available online core collections from the State Library, State Archives and State Museum for increased public access;
Develop collaborative online Museum exhibits showcasing treasures from the collections of the State Library, State Museum and State Archives; and
Expand and improve the State’s online summer reading program tools.

Sources: NYSED

When Will the Chip Shortage End?

Name a product, any product.

In 2021, the consumer expectation is that if you want something and you have the capital to pay for it, you can have it at your doorstep with literally, the touch of a button. The problem, however is that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the expectation, and reality of manufacturing output capabilities are far from aligned. Every industry is being impacted by a global chip shortage that’s stretched on for several months. It’s affecting a variety of production, from how quickly we can drive a car off the lot or even buy a new laptop – and virtually every sector of our economy and every facet of our modern lives is powered by semiconductors. So when can manufacturers expect business to go back to normal? It seems that’s the key question on all of our minds these days, and unfortunately, major players weighing in on the matter don’t have the most promising news to deliver.

Since the spring of 2021, the White House has recognized the impact the chip shortage was having on the manufacturing industry as well as on American workers and families throughout the country.

A statement released by the White House back in April described the issue as a “top and immediate priority” for the President and his senior-most advisors on economic and national security. The White House heard directly from industry leaders on the impact of the chip shortage and discussed short and long-term approaches to address it. Participants emphasized the importance of improving transparency in the semiconductor supply chain to help mitigate current shortages and improving demand forecasting across the supply chain to help mitigate future challenges.

The U.S. government also discussed the importance of encouraging additional semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the United States to make sure we never again face shortages.

That’s why this summer, the U.S. passed a tech and manufacturing bill that includes $52 billion to fund semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing initiatives. The problem? Currently, it’s just not financially lucrative for companies here in the U.S. and more incentives are needed. In 1990, the US produced 37% of the world’s chip supply, according to a September 2020 report from the Semiconductor Industry Association. But now, the country is responsible for just 12% of global chip production. Seventy-five percent of the world’s chip manufacturing comes out of Asia, per the report, and China is positioned to become the largest chip producer by 2030. The reality remains: foreign governments offer more attractive financial incentives to construct semiconductor factories, like tax breaks and grants, so until that changes here in America, the likelihood is production will continue to soar overseas.

In an effort to measure the scope of the chip shortage, tech journalism outlet Recode reached out to nearly 30 companies that use, design, and make chips.

The extensive list of major players included General Motors, Qualcomm, and Hewlett-Packard to name a few. All of the companies that responded said they were affected by the shortage. The electronics maker Toshiba told Recode it’s stuck paying higher prices for components while Toyota said the company’s supply chain issues continue to affect production at its North American facilities. BSH, which makes Bosch appliances, said some products have lead times as long as six months. While companies are adapting in their own ways, most surveyed didn’t anticipate a resolution anytime soon. Instead, companies see the chip shortage as an industry-wide problem that could go unresolved until at least next year and quite possibly into 2023.

As other countries continue to invest in their own research and development, we cannot risk falling behind.

The bipartisan support of the tech and manufacturing bill is a promising commitment to ramping up American production and remaining competitive in the global market. But there is other exciting legislation on the horizon that could encourage domestic manufacturing. The Facilitating American-Built Semiconductors (FABS) Act is bipartisan legislation that if approved would create a 25 percent tax credit for investments in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing to boost domestic manufacturing of semiconductors and further the aim to stimulate domestic growth in that sector. While time will tell what the future holds, and as manufacturers and consumers wait on chip production, one thing is true. A combination of grants, tax credits, and research investments is needed to turbocharge future U.S. semiconductor production and innovation.

Sources: Semiconductors.org, White House

Why NY Lawmakers are Pushing for Local Changes After Surfside Collapse

In the days and weeks following the sudden Surfside condo collapse, the nation watched in horror as the unimaginable loss of life unfolded.

According to a 2021 Statista Research Department data report, approximately 24 percent of New Yorkers live in apartment complexes. For many residents around the state, it raised safety concerns and questions about infrastructure closer to home. How safe are the apartment buildings and condominiums that house New Yorkers?

As a “municipal home rule” state when it comes to zoning regulations, local New York municipal governments adopt and enforce their own zoning ordinances rather than countywide zoning.

You might be familiar with the NYC Facade Inspection Safety Program (formerly known as Local Law 11), which requires NYC buildings taller than six stories to have their facades inspected and repaired every five years. But depending on what part of New York you call home, the rules will likely be very different. Every local government of the 42 municipalities within Orange County, for example, has its own zoning codes and zoning maps. Your local county Department of Planning likely strives to maintain current versions of zoning maps for all of the municipalities within your respective county. Taking the time to stay current with this information helps to inform planning policies, understand areas where future growth may likely occur, and assess the suitability and compliance of various land use proposals. But still, it’s important to ask: how often are your local leaders following up, or making necessary changes to zoning codes?

The next step would be evaluating the construction of buildings. For example, following the Surfside tragedy, The New York Times reported that “Three years before the deadly collapse… a consultant found alarming evidence of ‘major structural damage’ to the concrete slab below the pool deck…”

At the time the consultant noted, “Though some of this damage is minor, most of the concrete deterioration needs to be repaired in a timely fashion.” Although the engineer’s report helped shape plans for a multimillion-dollar repair project more than two and a half years after the building managers were warned, the collapse preceded any action. For many, the message rings loud and clear: some fixes can’t be delayed and that may mean local protocols need to be updated.

In the wake of this disastrous event, three New York state senators are pushing for stiffer building inspection requirements to prevent a repeat tragedy.

Legislators from Nassau County, Brooklyn, and Staten Island proposed a law requiring building owners to pay for periodic inspections of their properties, according to the news outlet The Patch. “How much do we know about the structural integrity of our buildings here?” asked Sen. Todd Kaminsky at a news conference announcing the plan. Little else is known about the proposed law or when the group of senators, which also includes Diane Savino and Roxanne Persaud, plan to introduce it. The group wrote a letter to New York’s Code Council, a body of 17 gubernatorial appointees empowered to update the fire and energy conservation codes and to adopt more restrictive local standards upon the recommendation of local governments.

The New York Department of State, which oversees the Division of Building Standards and Codes, said it has been reviewing building codes since the Florida collapse.

“We are reviewing the senator’s letter and will also carefully review the final investigative report regarding the building collapse in Miami to examine whether any changes may be warranted in New York State to prevent a similar tragedy from happening here, and to help keep New Yorkers safe,” state officials said in a statement. State officials said local governments are responsible for enforcing state codes, including building permits, construction inspections, fire safety, and property maintenance inspections.

Even if your hometown does not have oceanfront erosion to contemplate, every neighborhood faces its own set of unique environmental factors and challenges.

The Surfside condo collapse acts as a somber reminder for local government to take very seriously its responsibility to residents. Proactively maintaining the structural integrity of the buildings that make up your community today could save a life, tomorrow.

Sources: Forbes, The Real Deal, Statista