Bill Text: NY A01955 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates the district long-term care ombudsman council program to coordinate volunteer ombudsmen in each assembly district.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to aging [A01955 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A01955-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1955 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 23, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ZINERMAN, BURDICK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Aging AN ACT to amend the elder law, in relation to creating the district long-term care ombudsman council program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 2 218 of the elder law, as added by chapter 259 of the laws of 2018, is 3 amended, and a new paragraph (i) is added to read as follows: 4 (1) is an employee or volunteer of the state office for the aging or 5 of a designated local ombudsman entity, or a member of a district long- 6 term care ombudsman council program and represents the state long-term 7 care ombudsman program; 8 (i) "District council" or "district council program" shall mean the 9 district long-term care ombudsman council program established in subdi- 10 vision four of this section. 11 § 2. The opening paragraph and subparagraph 7 of paragraph (d) of 12 subdivision 3 of section 218 of the elder law, as amended by chapter 259 13 of the laws of 2018, are amended to read as follows: 14 The state ombudsman, personally or through [authorized represen-15tatives] the district long-term care ombudsman council program estab- 16 lished in subdivision four of this section, shall: 17 (7) develop a certification training program and continuing education 18 for ombudsmen which at a minimum shall specify the minimum hours of 19 training, the annual number of hours of in-service training, and the 20 content of the training, including, but not limited to, training relat- 21 ing to federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies with 22 respect to long-term care facilities in the state, investigative and 23 resolution techniques, and such other training-related matters as the 24 state ombudsman determines to be appropriate, for the purposes of train- 25 ing members of the district long-term care ombudsman council program EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03635-01-3A. 1955 2 1 described in subdivision four of this section, such training shall also 2 include an overview of such program; 3 § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 218 of the elder law, as amended by 4 chapter 259 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows: 5 4. Local long-term care ombudsman program and district long-term 6 ombudsman council program. (a) The state ombudsman, in accordance with 7 applicable state contracting procedures, [may] shall designate an entity 8 to operate a local long-term care ombudsman program for [one or more9counties] each assembly district, and shall monitor the performance of 10 each such entity. If the state office for the aging is aware or becomes 11 aware of any evidence that the designation of an entity to operate a 12 long-term care ombudsman program by the state long-term care ombudsman 13 would result in legal concerns or liability for the state office for the 14 aging or office of the state long-term care ombudsman, the state ombuds- 15 man will comply with the state office for the aging's determination that 16 such designation should not be made. 17 (b) The designated entity shall be an area agency on aging, a public 18 agency or a private not-for-profit corporation which is free from any 19 conflict of interest that cannot be remedied. Any actual and potential 20 conflicts of interest shall be identified and addressed in accordance 21 with subdivision ten of this section. 22 (b-1) The state ombudsman shall create, in each assembly district, a 23 district long-term care ombudsman council program to coordinate the 24 volunteers of each local long-term care ombudsman program within their 25 district. Each district council shall consist of the following members: 26 (i) a trained district coordinator, appointed by the state ombudsman, 27 to serve as chair, who shall be paid an annual stipend of two hundred 28 dollars; 29 (ii) a trained district coordinator to serve as co-chair, appointed by 30 the state ombudsman, who shall be paid an annual stipend of one hundred 31 fifty dollars; 32 (iii) a trained district coordinator, appointed by the state ombuds- 33 man, to serve as secretary, who shall be paid an annual stipend of one 34 hundred fifty dollars; and 35 (iv) eight or more residents of such district, approved by the chair, 36 co-chair, and secretary of the district council, to serve as trained 37 district advocates, each of whom shall be paid an annual stipend of one 38 hundred fifty dollars. 39 (b-2) The positions of long-term care ombudsman program volunteer and 40 district long-term care ombudsman council program advocate shall be 41 listed with the human resources departments of the department of health, 42 state office of the aging, and any other relevant agency. Such listing 43 shall be included on each such agency's website and marketing materials, 44 and such listing shall be displayed on the department of labor website 45 and in state run care facilities. 46 (b-3) Information about the role and responsibility of the district 47 council program and the contact information of the members of such 48 district council program providing services to a long-term care facility 49 shall be included in the welcome packet of all new residents to such 50 facility alongside the patient bill of rights. 51 (c)(1) Each local long-term care ombudsman program shall be directed 52 by a qualified individual who is employed and paid by the local entity 53 and who shall have the duties and responsibilities as provided in regu- 54 lations, consistent with the provisions of this section and of Title VII 55 of the federal older Americans act of 1965, as amended. Such director 56 shall work with the district council to carry-out the requirements ofA. 1955 3 1 this section. In addition, upon designation, the entity is responsible 2 for providing for adequate and qualified staff, which may include 3 trained volunteers to perform the functions of the local long-term care 4 ombudsman program. 5 (2) No local program staff or district council staff, including the 6 supervisor and any volunteers, shall perform or carry out the activities 7 on behalf of the state long-term care ombudsman program or the district 8 long-term ombudsman council program unless such staff has been verified 9 as completing the training program developed by the state ombudsman and 10 has been approved by the state ombudsman as qualified to carry out the 11 activities on behalf of the local program or district council program. 12 (3) For purposes of the district council such trainings shall be given 13 annually for all new recruits to such program and shall be available in 14 both in-person and online formats. Each council member shall also be 15 required to complete two or more professional development trainings 16 annually. Such professional development trainings shall be developed by 17 the state ombudsman. 18 (d) When the state ombudsman determines that a local long-term care 19 ombudsman program does not meet the standards set forth in this section 20 and in any related regulations, the state ombudsman, in coordination 21 with the state office for the aging, may refuse, suspend, or remove the 22 designation of the local [ombudsmen] ombudsman entity. Prior to taking 23 such action, the state ombudsman shall send to the affected local 24 program a notice of the state ombudsman's intentions to refuse, suspend, 25 or remove the designation; provided, however, if the state office for 26 the aging is aware or becomes aware of evidence that the designation or 27 continued designation of an entity to operate a long-term care ombudsman 28 program would result in legal concerns or liability for the state office 29 for the aging or the office of the state long-term care ombudsman, the 30 state ombudsman will comply with the state office for the aging's deter- 31 mination that such designation should not be made or that such desig- 32 nation be refused, suspended, or removed. 33 (e) The state ombudsman shall develop a grievance process to offer an 34 opportunity for reconsideration of any decision to refuse, suspend, or 35 remove the designation of a local ombudsman entity. Notwithstanding the 36 grievance process, the state ombudsman shall make the final determi- 37 nation to designate or to refuse, suspend, or remove the designation of 38 a local ombudsman entity; provided, however, if the state office for the 39 aging is aware or becomes aware of any evidence that the designation of 40 an entity to operate a long-term care ombudsman program by the state 41 long-term care ombudsman or that the failure of the state ombudsman to 42 refuse, suspend, or remove the designation of a local ombudsman entity 43 would result in legal concerns or liability for the state office for the 44 aging or the office of the state long-term care ombudsman, the state 45 ombudsman will comply with the state office for the aging's determi- 46 nation that such designation should not be made or that such designation 47 be refused, suspended, or removed. 48 (f) Each district shall receive the sum of eight hundred ten thousand 49 dollars annually for the purposes of administrating the district long- 50 term care ombudsman council program. 51 § 4. Subdivision 14 of section 218 of the elder law, as amended by 52 chapter 776 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows: 53 14. Annual report. (a) On or before March thirty-first, two thousand 54 five, and annually thereafter, the state ombudsman shall submit to the 55 governor, commissioner of the federal administration on aging, speaker 56 of the assembly, temporary president of the senate, director of theA. 1955 4 1 state office for the aging, commissioner of the department of health, 2 and the commissioner of children and family services a report and make 3 such report available to the public: 4 [(a)] (i) describing the activities carried out by the office of the 5 state long-term care ombudsman during the prior calendar year; 6 [(b)] (ii) containing and analyzing data relating to complaints and 7 conditions in long-term care facilities and to residents for the purpose 8 of identifying and resolving significant problems, including an examina- 9 tion of any recurring complaints to determine if there are systemic 10 issues in such facilities; 11 [(c)] (iii) evaluating the problems experienced by, and the complaints 12 made by or on behalf of, residents; 13 [(d)] (iv) containing recommendations for appropriate state legis- 14 lation, rules and regulations and other action based on data collected 15 pursuant to this section, concerns raised by residents and families of 16 residents, and observations made when visiting long-term care facili- 17 ties, to improve the quality of the care and life of the residents, 18 protecting the health, safety and welfare and rights of the residents 19 and resolving resident complaints and identified problems or barriers; 20 [(e)] (v) containing an analysis of the success of the long-term care 21 ombudsman program, including success in providing services to residents; 22 [(f)] (vi) describing barriers that prevent the optimal operation of 23 the ombudsman program; 24 [(g)] (vii) describing any organizational conflicts of interest in the 25 ombudsman program that have been identified and the steps taken to 26 remove or remedy such conflicts; 27 [(h)] (viii) containing all complaints received by the state ombudsman 28 relating to long-term care facilities including but not limited to 29 complaints that suggest the possible occurrence of physical abuse, 30 mistreatment, neglect or Medicaid fraud, listed by type of complaint, 31 facility name and by region; 32 [(i)] (ix) containing the number of visits to each long-term care 33 facility, listed by facility name and by region, and names of long-term 34 care facilities that did not receive any visits in the prior year; and 35 [(j)] (x) any other matters as the state ombudsman, in consultation 36 with the director of the state office for the aging, determines to be 37 appropriate. 38 (b) On or before March thirty-first, two thousand twenty-five, and 39 annually thereafter, each district long-term care ombudsman council 40 program shall submit to the attorney general a report and make such 41 report available to the public: 42 (i) describing the activities carried out by the district council 43 program during the prior calendar year; 44 (ii) containing and analyzing data relating to complaints and condi- 45 tions in long-term care facilities and to residents for the purpose of 46 identifying and resolving significant problems; 47 (iii) evaluating the problems experienced by, and the complaints made 48 by or on behalf of, residents; 49 (iv) containing recommendations for appropriate state legislation, 50 rules and regulations and other action to improve the quality of the 51 care and life of the residents, protecting the health, safety and 52 welfare and rights of the residents and resolving resident complaints 53 and identified problems or barriers; 54 (v) containing an analysis of the success of the district council 55 program, including success in providing services to residents;A. 1955 5 1 (vi) describing barriers that prevent the optimal operation of the 2 district council program; 3 (vii) describing any organizational conflicts of interest in the 4 district council program that have been identified and the steps taken 5 to remove or remedy such conflicts; 6 (viii) any other matters as the district council determines to be 7 appropriate; and 8 (ix) in the cases of new nursing homes that are opening in a partic- 9 ular district under a different name or with ownership from a previous 10 facility that was closed or cited for issues by the department of 11 health, provide recommendations for the nursing home to be approved for 12 opening. 13 § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 14 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 15 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 16 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 17 completed on or before such effective date.
