The first quarter of 2025 has been eventful for New York’s Disclosure of Material Transactions Law. As discussed in our recent blog post, the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 New York State Executive Budget (FY 26 Executive Budget) contains an amendment that would alter reporting parties’ notice requirements, extend waiting periods, and increase oversight of material health care transactions by the New York State Department of Health (DOH). Now, nearly a year and a half after the Disclosure of Material Transactions Law took effect, DOH has published Public Health Law Article 54-A, Material Transactions Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on its website. The law currently requires “health care entities” engaged in a “material transaction” to provide written notice of the transaction to DOH at least 30 days before the transaction closing as well as notice to DOH upon the transaction closing. With the FAQs, DOH seeks to “provide responses to common questions the Department has received to date” and clarify health care entities’ obligations under the Disclosure of Material Transactions Law. The FAQs expand on the statute’s language, providing guidance on what “health care entities” are subject to the law, what constitutes a “material transaction,” how a transaction’s impact will be assessed, and the ability to comment on a proposed transaction.

Governor Kathy Hochul released the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 New York State Executive Budget on January 21, 2025 (FY 26 Executive Budget). The FY 26 Executive Budget contains an amendment to Article 45-A of New York’s Public Health Law (hereinafter, the Disclosure of Material Transactions Law), which has been in effect since August 1, 2023. The law currently requires parties to a “material transaction” to provide 30 days pre-closing as well as post-closing notice to the New York State Department of Health (DOH). Since the law has taken effect, DOH has received notice of 9 material transactions, the details of which are listed on its website. If enacted, the amendment will change the reporting parties’ notice requirement, extend waiting periods, and increase DOH’s oversight of material health care transactions.

In summer of 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed Intro. 844-A (Local Law 844-A) and amended the New York City Charter. Local Law 844-A directs Mayor Adams to establish an Office of Healthcare Accountability that will serve to increase health care price transparency in New York City. Though health care price transparency laws have been enacted at the state level across the nation, New York City has become the first municipality in the nation to implement a price transparency law. Indeed, New York City Councilmember Julie Menin, who sponsored Local Law 844-A, emphasized “the positive impact of price transparency measures in other states, and it’s time for New York City to curb excessive health care prices” alongside other states during the bill’s signing ceremony. The law took effect on February 18, 2024.

On November 13, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul announced plans to regulate cybersecurity for New York general hospitals regulated under Article 28 of the Public Health Law. As proposed, the regulations will provide an additional level of security for hospitals, which have been increasingly targeted for cybersecurity scams and breaches. The proposed regulations would be additive to those requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which already includes a variety of requirements meant to safeguard Protected Health Information (PHI). Accompanying the proposed regulations, a $500 million dollar fund has been appropriated under Governor Hochul’s FY24 budget to assist hospitals in complying with the proposed cybersecurity regulations. The funds will be made available through a Health Care Technology Capital program, which will be established by the New York State Department of Health (DOH).

On May 3, 2023, New York joined Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and California in enacting legislation that increases oversight over certain health care transactions. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Fiscal Year 2024 New York State Executive Budget (FY 24 Executive Budget) into law which enacted the final version of Article 45-A of the New York Public Health Law (PHL) titled “Disclosure of Material Transactions.” The law takes effect on August 1, 2023.

On April 25, 2023, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy introduced a package of legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. The package includes four bills, each proposing changes that would address a different piece of the pharmaceutical supply chain. This post focuses on the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act (PBM Reform Act), which proposes to increase oversight of entities providing pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) services to group health plans and health insurance issuers (i.e., employer-based health insurance coverage).

Deal structure is the foundation of a health care transaction. This post offers practical tips and hypothetical case studies for laying the groundwork for a successful health care transaction.

In this post, we summarize the reforms under Article 28 of the New York Public Health Law and changes to general hospital and nursing home staffing laws and discuss what these changes mean for both. 

Effective October 1, 2022, Connecticut adopted the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) and the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT). As of the date of this post, Connecticut joins 38 other states who have adopted the IMLC and 34 other states that have adopted the PSYPACT. This blog post provides an overview of the IMLC and PSYPACT and analyzes its impact in Connecticut.