2020 Articles

From Emergency Orders to Regulatory Reform in Post-Emergency New York

Swidler, Robert N.

Starting in March 2020, New York State began waiving or otherwise relaxing numerous health care laws and regulations in order to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The state accomplished this largely through executive orders and agency directives. By April, Governor Cuomo also started to impose new obligations on health care providers by issuing enforceable directives and emergency regulations. These opposite regulatory levers—the waiver and the directive, the brake and the pedal — were and are being used to meet the new and shifting exigencies of COVID. This article describes Governor Cuomo's use of emergency waivers and directives, and suggests which should be allowed to expire, which should endure as part of regulatory reform.