Bill Text: NY S00158 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires general hospitals to develop and implement policies that assure equitable and consistent access to outpatient services as part of their community service plans.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO HEALTH [S00158 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S00158-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           158
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                       (Prefiled)
                                     January 4, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
        AN ACT to amend the public health law,  in  relation  to  equitable  and
          consistent access to outpatient care services
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Paragraphs (iii) and  (iv)  of  subdivision  2  of  section
     2  2803-l  of  the public health law, as amended by chapter 639 of the laws
     3  of 1996, are amended and a  new  paragraph  (v)  is  added  to  read  as
     4  follows:
     5    (iii)  demonstrate the hospital's operational and financial commitment
     6  to meeting community health care needs, to provide charity care services
     7  and to improve access to health care services by the underserved; [and]
     8    (iv) prepare and make available to the public a statement showing on a
     9  combined basis a summary of the financial resources of the hospital  and
    10  related corporations and the allocation of available resources to hospi-
    11  tal   purposes  including  the  provision  of  free  or  reduced  charge
    12  services[.]; and
    13    (v) demonstrate the hospital's commitment to ensuring quality care and
    14  continuity of care within all treatment settings for all  patient  popu-
    15  lations,  including  persons  covered  by Medicaid and the uninsured, in
    16  accordance with the provisions of section twenty-eight hundred five-z of
    17  this article.
    18    § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new  section  2805-z
    19  to read as follows:
    20    §  2805-z. Access to outpatient services. Every general hospital shall
    21  establish policies that assure equitable and consistent access to outpa-
    22  tient care services that may be provided or arranged  by  such  hospital
    23  through  hospital-affiliated  outpatient  departments,  clinics, faculty
    24  practice plans or private physician practices, regardless of a patient's
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00861-01-7
        S. 158                              2
     1  source of coverage or payment. Such policies shall be incorporated with-
     2  in the general hospital's community services plan,  in  accordance  with
     3  the  provisions of section twenty-eight hundred three-l of this article.
     4  To assist general hospitals in satisfying these obligations and develop-
     5  ing  such policies, the department shall examine barriers that may exist
     6  to assuring equitable access to health care services. In conducting such
     7  examination, the department shall consider any state or federal  regula-
     8  tory or reimbursement policies that discourage equitable access, regard-
     9  less  of  the  patient's  source  of coverage or payment. The department
    10  shall also examine the extent to which insurance and managed care  bene-
    11  fit designs may discourage or preclude access to appropriate services by
    12  patients, regardless of the patient's source of coverage or payment. The
    13  commissioner  shall,  on  or  before December thirty-first, two thousand
    14  eighteen, issue a report on such examination  including  recommendations
    15  for any necessary legislative or regulatory changes to enhance access to
    16  services, and detailing any federal statutory or regulatory barriers.
    17    §  3.  This act shall take effect immediately, except that section one
    18  of this act shall take effect on October 1, 2018 and the  provisions  of
    19  such section shall apply to community service plans due and submitted on
    20  or after such date.