NYSNA Nurses Succeed in Keeping the Dangerous Hospital at Home Program Out of New York State Budget
For Immediate Release: May 28, 2026
Contact: Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
Eric Koch | press@nysna.org | 617-733-6891
NYSNA NURSES SUCCEED IN KEEPING THE DANGEROUS HOSPITAL AT HOME PROGRAM OUT OF NEW YORK STATE BUDGET
Albany, N.Y. – The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) today celebrated a major victory for patient safety. The New York state budget passed late last night removes the dangerous Hospital at Home proposal from the budget.
NYSNA nurses traveled to Albany twice this session to meet face to face with legislators, launched a statewide social media and advertising campaign opposing the program, and gathered thousands of petition signatures from New Yorkers urging Albany to reject Hospital at Home.
“This is a victory for every patient in New York,” said NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN. “Nurses refused to stay quiet while corporate interests tried to push a program that would leave patients home all alone, with no hospital, no team, and no around-the-clock care. We know what our patients need because we are at the bedside every single day, and we carried their voices straight to the halls of power in Albany. Lawmakers listened, and New Yorkers will keep getting the real, hands-on nursing care they deserve. But our work is not done. We will keep fighting against any proposal that trades patient safety for corporate profit and puts the health of New Yorkers at risk.”
Under Hospital at Home programs, acute care patients are monitored virtually in their homes instead of receiving in-person, around-the-clock expert care in a hospital. Nurses warned that the program would reduce real nursing care, shift the responsibility and costs of care onto patients and their families, enable for-profit contractors to upcharge vulnerable patients, and cut hospital staff and capacity statewide, increasing pressure to close inpatient units or entire hospitals in rural and underserved communities. They were especially alarmed by the proposal to expand the program to Medicaid patients, despite the near-total absence of regulation governing these programs or studies showing the efficacy of Hospital at Home programs.
NYSNA nurses intend to continue advocating to strengthen New York’s healthcare system and workforce in the face of federal budget cuts and attacks on workers and patients.
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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.