Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York, is set to testify publicly next week regarding his controversial nursing home advisory during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to CNN, Cuomo will appear before the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on September 10, 2024. This public testimony follows his closed-door interview with the same panel in June.
The upcoming hearing will provide an opportunity for Americans to hear directly from Cuomo about New York's nursing home policies during the pandemic. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the Ohio Republican who chairs the subcommittee, emphasized the importance of this testimony, stating that Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York's nursing homes during the Covid-19 crisis.
The focus of the hearing will be on Cuomo's March 2020 advisory, which prohibited nursing homes from rejecting patients solely based on a Covid-19 diagnosis. This policy has been a subject of intense debate and criticism, with some arguing that it may have contributed to increased mortality rates in nursing homes.
Rep. Wenstrup, speaking on CNN's "The Lead" in April, questioned the logic behind this decision. As a doctor with experience treating infections, he expressed concern that placing highly contagious individuals among the most vulnerable populations went against medical common sense.
Cuomo's spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, confirmed the former governor's participation in the upcoming hearing. He stated that Cuomo is pleased to join the committee again to address what he sees as the central question: why the United States experienced more Covid-19 deaths than any other country and how to prevent such a tragedy in the future.
The controversy surrounding New York's nursing home policies during the pandemic has been further fueled by investigations revealing discrepancies in reported deaths. A 2021 investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, found that the New York State Department of Health had undercounted Covid-19 deaths among nursing home residents by approximately 50%.
This undercount was primarily due to the exclusion of deaths of residents who had been transferred to hospitals. A subsequent audit in 2022 by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli concluded that Cuomo's health department failed to report roughly 4,100 deaths between April 2020 and February 2021. Despite these findings, Cuomo has maintained that his advisory was in line with guidance from federal health agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The House subcommittee has already conducted interviews with Cuomo and nine high-ranking former members of his administration. In a series of tweets, the committee shared some of their findings from Cuomo's June interview, describing his demeanor as "shockingly callous" when discussing New York's nursing home mortality rate.
Additionally, the committee stated that Cuomo repeatedly deflected responsibility for issuing the nursing home directive. To provide full transparency, the panel announced that transcripts from all interviews, including Cuomo's, would be released prior to the upcoming public hearing.
Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, served as New York's governor from 2010 until his resignation in August 2021. His departure from office was precipitated by a report from Attorney General James' office, which found that he had sexually harassed 11 women. Cuomo has consistently denied these allegations.
The former governor's tenure, which spanned nearly three full terms, came to an abrupt end amidst the controversy surrounding both his handling of the pandemic and the sexual harassment allegations. His upcoming testimony represents a significant moment in the ongoing examination of New York's Covid-19 response.
In conclusion, Andrew Cuomo's public testimony next week marks a crucial step in understanding New York's nursing home policies during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The hearing will provide an opportunity for the former governor to address criticisms and explain his decision-making process.
