Next week, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is set to testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic regarding his administration’s handling of COVID-19, particularly his controversial decision to require nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients. The hearing, scheduled for September 10, will delve into the “unscientific guidance” that led to the nursing home directive, a decision that has sparked widespread criticism and scrutiny.
The subcommittee, led by Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R., Ohio), plans to question Cuomo about the policies that some argue contributed to a significant number of deaths in New York’s nursing homes during the pandemic. In a statement, Wenstrup emphasized the need for answers, stating, “Andrew Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York’s nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 10, Americans will have the opportunity to hear directly from the former governor about New York’s potentially fatal nursing home policies.”
Cuomo’s upcoming testimony follows a private questioning session by the committee in June, during which members described his attitude as “shockingly callous” when discussing New York’s nursing home mortality rate. According to the committee, Cuomo “repeatedly deflected responsibility” for the controversial directive that mandated nursing homes to admit patients regardless of their COVID-19 status.
National Review notes that Cuomo’s leadership during the pandemic initially earned him widespread praise, including an Emmy for his televised briefings and a $5 million book deal. However, his administration’s handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes has since become a focal point of criticism. In March 2020, Cuomo issued an advisory that forced nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients, a move that many believe exacerbated the spread of the virus among vulnerable populations.
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) conducted an investigation that revealed the state had undercounted nursing-home deaths by as much as 50 percent, concealing thousands of fatalities from the public. Additionally, a report by the Empire Center for Public Policy, an independent think tank, concluded that Cuomo’s directive may have contributed to over one thousand additional deaths in nursing homes.
“I’m trying to learn why he would do something like this,” Chairman Wenstrup said, expressing his concerns as a medical professional. “As a doctor who has treated infections, it goes against all medical common sense to take someone who was highly contagious and put them amongst the most vulnerable.”
Despite the mounting criticism, Cuomo’s spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, defended the former governor, asserting that the committee’s investigation is rooted in “false political attacks” and blaming federal guidance from the Trump administration’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for New York’s nursing home policies. Azzopardi pointed out that more than a dozen other states, both Democratic and Republican, followed similar guidance.
“This was federal guidance. This was what everyone was doing,” Azzopardi said, citing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as an example of another leader who implemented similar policies. He further accused the committee of failing to hold former President Donald Trump accountable for his administration’s role in the pandemic response.
