Andrew Cuomo to Testify in House Hearing on Nursing Home COVID-19 Policy

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will testify on September 10 before the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, according to an announcement by panel Chair Brad Wenstrup, a Republican from Ohio.

This upcoming hearing aims to scrutinize the guidance Cuomo issued during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance permitted nursing homes and long-term care facilities in New York to admit patients who had tested positive for the virus.

Wenstrup stated, “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.”

Earlier this year, Cuomo provided closed-door testimony to the panel following a subpoena. Wenstrup expressed concern over Cuomo’s demeanor during that interview, describing him as “shockingly callous” when discussing inconsistencies in the reported nursing home death counts. Wenstrup accused Cuomo of repeatedly deflecting responsibility regarding the nursing home directive and exhibiting little remorse for the loss of thousands of lives.

Cuomo’s participation in the upcoming hearing is voluntary. Wenstrup emphasized the hope that, during this public session, Cuomo would cease avoiding accountability and would directly address the American public’s questions.

In response, Cuomo’s spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, criticized what he termed a “farce of a committee.” He referenced a study found in the NIH library based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which concluded that New York had a lower nursing home death rate compared to all but 11 states on a per capita basis.

Azzopardi argued that the committee continues to engage in misleading political attacks by blaming New York for nursing home deaths, despite the fact that the state was adhering to guidance from the Trump administration’s CDC and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). He further noted that numerous other states—both Democratic and Republican—implemented similar guidance. As Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz stated, “This was federal guidance. This was what everyone was doing.”

Azzopardi contended that the committee refuses to acknowledge its own anti-science policies, which he claimed led to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths, while also neglecting to call a key witness essential to their investigations: Donald Trump.

Cuomo’s controversial guidance decreed that nursing homes could not refuse admission to patients who tested positive for COVID-19, provided they were medically stable. This directive also prohibited the requirement of testing hospitalized patients for COVID-19 before admitting them back into nursing homes. Cuomo’s office maintained that existing safeguards stipulated that nursing homes should only accept patients they are capable of caring for.

This policy was developed in response to the overwhelming burden placed on hospitals during the pandemic. However, critics argue that it significantly contributed to the high mortality rates of COVID-19 among nursing home residents.

Cuomo resigned from his position in office in 2021 amidst allegations of sexual harassment, which he has consistently denied.

As the September 10 hearing approaches, the pressure mounts on Cuomo to provide clarity regarding his actions during the pandemic, especially in relation to the contentious nursing home policies that have drawn intense scrutiny and widespread criticism.