Ithaca Journal: NY's Grieving Families Act would increase payouts for wrongful deaths, if Kathy Hochul approves

By: David Robinson

New York's more than 175-year-old wrongful death law would be overhauled under legislation that state lawmakers approved recently, despite Gov. Kathy Hochul's prior opposition to the measure.

The bill, known as the Grieving Families Act, passed the Democrat-controlled Legislature that aimed to push Hochul to approve the legislation, which in part would allow courts to compensate close family members for emotional loss in wrongful death lawsuits. State law currently limits damages based on wage-earning potential.

The legislation passed with bipartisan support. It came after the Democratic governor vetoed three earlier versions of the bill, citing her concerns that allowing courts to award emotional loss damages would increase insurance and liability costs, particularly in the health system.

Hochul has yet to indicate whether she would reverse course and approve the latest version of the bill, which made some changes to prior legislation based on Hochul's previous vetoes. The governor's office told USA TODAY Network that Hochul will review the legislation.

Who opposes NY’s wrongful death law overhaul?

Health care providers voiced concerns the potential for higher wrongful death payouts would drive up medical malpractice and liability insurance costs, citing the fact New York health providers already pay some of the highest costs nationally for both.

A key trade group representing thousands of doctors statewide, the Medical Society of the State of New York, asserted that uncertainty surrounding ongoing federal budget debates deepened their concerns that the Grieving Families Act would harm New Yorkers.

"This bill, especially when (New York) stands in the crosshairs of the draconian cuts to Medicaid found in the One Big Beautiful Bill, will result in closed hospitals and physician offices, especially in rural areas, longer drives to obtain medical care, and longer wait times when patients need emergent care," the group's President Dr. David Jakubowicz said in a statement.

Business groups have also fought the legislation, citing in October their concerns about economic struggles faced by many New Yorkers.

“This will further raise the cost of goods and services for consumers and our small businesses, the groups noted in a letter to Hochul, adding the already high cost of living has emerged as the defining issue in recent elections.

What NY Grieving Families Act supporters say

State lawmakers and the state Trial Lawyers Association have called approving the Grieving Families Act a long-overdue reform of New York’s wrongful death statutes, which only allow damages for pecuniary loss, meaning based on earnings potential.

That income-based approach most harshly impacts children, seniors, women and people of color, state lawmakers said. The legal bias harms people who often have no income or significantly less income. Put differently, it is unjust to those who have been traditionally undervalued in society, they said.

The bill would address “the urgent need for New York law to recognize the profound grief and anguish experienced by families who have lost loved ones — to the preventable epidemic of maternal mortality, to children taken by gun violence, to workers lost on the job, and so many others,” Victoria Wickman, president of lawyers group, wrote on X.

The lawyers group added, “New Yorkers deserve accountability after the unimaginable loss of a loved one. The law must recognize the value of every life and the grief and anguish left behind when that life is taken.”

What are key debates over the NY Grieving Families Act?

Nearly every other state allows for compensation for emotional loss in their wrongful death statutes, but New York’s legislative debate hinges on key aspects of the issue.

For example, the original bill in 2022 would have amended the law to allow “surviving close family member” to be eligible to recover expanded damages, but subsequent versions, including the one passed this year, narrowed it by listing the type of eligible family members.

Hochul’s veto letters have also pushed a version that focuses exclusively on increasing wrongful death payouts related to children, but state lawmakers refused. She also noted her reluctance to approve the broader bill stemmed in part from a lack of research into the potential economic impact, suggesting a state study of the issue could progress the legislation.

Lawmakers noted to address concerns raised by Hochul, the current version of the bill has also shortened the proposed retroactive effect of the legislation by three years. It now would only apply to causes of action that accrue on or after January 1, 2021.

The physician trade group asserted the amendments to the legislation do "not in any way change the substantive impact of this bill and its massive increase in insurance costs for our hospitals and physicians" who spent more in medical liability payments than California and Florida combined, despite having one-third the population.