Changes to N.Y.'s Medical Indemnity Fund could hurt families relying on it for children's healthcare
White Plains mother Denise Olivo has been fighting for her son GianRaul since the moment he was born, when he suffered a neurological injury due to medical malpractice.
In New York, families like his don't collect full damages from hospitals. Instead, the state promises to cover their healthcare for life through a program called the Medical Indemnity Fund.
In 2024, Olivo told CBS News New York's Mahsa Saeidi she had to fight the fund when it delayed or denied her claims.
After CBS News New York's reporting, funding for the program quadrupled to $211 million, but now it's set to run out in July.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed $75 million to keep the fund open, but the reforms would cut what some providers make.
Reforms to funding could hurt nurses
The state is proposing to cut reimbursement rates for private duty nursing, according to lawmakers and an attorney for families under the Medical Indemnity Fund.
Nurses currently earn competitive market rates. According to the state's Medical Indemnity Fund website, they are "reimbursed at the 80th percentile of the 'usual and customary rate,' for that type of practice in the geographic area in which the practice is located, as reported by Fair Health, Inc."
Under the proposal, they would drop to the state's lower Medicaid rate.
According to a lawmaker who works with Medical Indemnity Fund families, this means registered nurses providing home care would make $27.57 an hour in the upstate region and $31.21 an hour downstate.
CBS News New York is working to obtain the current salary for nurses under the Medical Indemnity Fund.
The state projects it will save $50 million, but Olivo worries about what that will mean for patients.
"It'll be much harder for families to get nurses to actually want to stay in home health," she said.
GianRaul, born GianRaul M. Olivo, also went by the nickname GMO. For eight years, the person who showed up bedside for 12 hours a day, six days a week was his nurse. Kevin Emmanuel was not just GMO's nurse but his companion and, in many ways, a second dad. Emmanuel also had a close connection with the teen because his own son, who died at just 3 years old, also had special needs.
"He allowed me to care for him the way that I would care for my son," Emmanuel said. "The crazy thing about it is, while GMO was going through the process, it brought back so much memory because it's the same hospital. Same unit that my son passed, GMO was."
Other families who rely on the fund told Saeidi that nurses like Emmanuel are the reason their children have a life worth living.
"Committed to keeping the fund open"
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the fund is open for new enrollments.
"We care deeply about the continued stability of the Medical Indemnity Fund and its mission to support New Yorkers. We remain engaged in ongoing negotiations with the Legislature to enact a responsible state budget," a statement read.
"Governor Hochul remains committed to keeping the fund open," the spokesperson said.
CBS News New York is in touch with lawmakers in Albany who say the assembly rejected Hochul's proposed $75 million appropriation. They have countered with $207 million. The budget has not been finalized, and negotiations are ongoing.
