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A New York State Supreme Court justice sided with for-profit nursing homes in a recent decision. Justice Matthew Rosenbaum temporarily suspended a law giving the state’s Department of Health authority over when a nursing home can access its own funds.

The law, which took effect over the spring, gave the New York Commissioner of Health control over any for-profit facility withdrawal that exceeded 3% of that facility’s Medicaid revenue from the previous year. For example, a facility that received $1 million in Medicaid funds would need to seek permission for every withdrawal after $30,000. Under the guise of “concern for the patient,” the state helped guard against nursing home owners removing funds while a facility might be struggling, New York’s Democrat and Chronicle newspaper reported.

Rosenbaum on Nov. 20 ordered the law be temporarily suspended while nursing homes and states attorneys resolve the matter. In his ruling, he said the law could cause “irreparable harm” to nursing homes, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.