Health Laws of 2007

  (Index):

 Overview

This year's enacted health laws tackle a wide variety of topic areas and address numerous public concerns. In the Budget, in addition to allocating funding for heath related science research, the Legislature enacted laws to ensure funding for the ongoing treatment and continued access to services for those whose chronic conditions have already been diagnosed. Strides were made in the advancement of palliative and end of life care. Recognizing the increasing need and tremendous value to the community that such specialized care provides, we now have laws to enable medical students to receive grants for medical education in palliative care at home, laws to enable government agencies to enter into contractual arrangements with hospice and to provide end of life and supportive care to Medicare and Medicaid patients in the advanced stages of illnesses and laws to expand upon our State's successful hospice pilot programs.

New laws for health care practitioners and health care financing, meanwhile, will increase the public's access to high quality service providers by opening the market for much needed renal dialysis facilities, by allowing physician's assistants to prescribe certain additional controlled substances, by creating more fairness within the Medicaid Program and by protecting consumers and providers from excessively complex practices in the area of insurance claims and denials. Such laws, summarized below, are intended to benefit patients, providers and facilities.

Chapter 290:

Amends the Public Health Law to require the Coordinating Council for Services related to Alzheimer’s Disease and other Dementia to review and report upon the use of clinically recognized, scientifically based, cognitive impairment screening tools used to identify signs of, and individuals at-risk for, cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer's disease or other dementias. The council is also required to review and report on best practices of providers regarding the early identification of at-risk individuals, referral practices and the range of interventions and services available for the cognitively impaired. This Chapter becomes effective on November 1, 2007.

Chapter 315:

Amends the Public Health Law by authorizing certain corporate owned businesses with expertise in the provision of dialysis services to be established as operators of renal dialysis facilities. This Chapter becomes effective on January 14, 2008.

Chapter 623:

Breast cancer differs from most other cancers in that it can recur ten, twenty or even thirty years after an initial diagniosis. In this sense, it becomes a chronic condition that requires the patient to remain vigilant, informed and proactive for the rest of his or her life. Although New York has committed significant resources to breast cancer research and early detection, there existed a need for additional support for the post-diagnosis concerns of thousands of residents stricken by the disease. Thus, this chapter provides for grants, through the Breast Cancer Detection and Education Advisory Council, to community-based organizations that provide counseling, education and outreach programs for people diagnosed with breast cancer. It became effective August 28, 2007.

Chapter 401:

This chapter adds certain individuals to the list of people who have the right to control the disposition of human remains. Public Health Law § 4201 establishes a list of persons eligible to control the disposition of a decedent’s remains. Such list, however, fails to incorporate certain categories of relatives or friends, such as grandparents, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, who may be familiar with the wishes of the deceased. This chapter adds such individuals, in order of priority based upon relationship to the deceased, to the exisiting hierarchy, thereby ensuring that the list of persons eligible to control the disposition of a decedent’s remains is as comprehensive as possible. Signed into law by the governor on August 1, 2007, its provisions are deemed to have been in full force and effect as of August 2, 2006, the date on which New York’s Final Disposition Hierarchy was originally established.

Chapter 403:

Expands access to hospice based palliative care by allowing hospice providers to receive government reimbursement for palliative care services. This chapter became effective August 1, 2007.

Chapter 409:

This chapter adds home care as an eligible setting for participation within the new medical student palliative care training program. The Palliative Care Education and Training Program, established pursuant to Chapter 58 of the laws of 2007, offers an opportunity to enhance physician and medical student skills pertinent to the care of individuals suffering from debilitating, incurable, end-of-life conditions. While such caregivers are typically focused on treatment and cure, palliative care requires training and education for a very different set of patient goals. Fortunately, the new Program enables medical schools, through palliative care education grants, to offer instruction on palliative care in a variety of settings, including non-hospital based ambulatory care facilities and hospice. Home care, however, which is uniquely appropriate for many individuals requiring palliative care, is not presently an eligible setting within which medical schools can offer such training. This chapter amends the applicable Public Health Law (§ 2807-n) to include home care as an eligible setting. It is deemed to have been in full force and effect as of April 1, 2007.

Chapter 410:

This chapter expands the hospice residence pilot program by authorizing an increase in the number of 16-bed hospice residences from three to ten. Hospice is a successful alternative to conventional curative care for individuals afflicted with terminal illness or advanced progressive disease. It is a patient and family oriented program that provides palliative and supportive care to alleviate the stresses associated with illness and death. Hospice residences, meanwhile, were created pursuant to Chapter 532 of the Laws of 1995 and provide traditional hospice services in an informal, home-like setting. The hospice residence program concept has proven quite successful.

The purpose of this legislation is to expand the number of these residential hospices (that can have between 9 and 16 beds) from three to ten because existing facilities have exceeded their bed capacity and have had to put applicants for admission on waiting lists. Notably, hospice residences can provide much of what would be provided in an inpatient hospital unit, the only alternative for individuals seeking hospice services, and they do so at a much lower cost. The per diem Medicare rate for residential hospice is $166 as compared to $733 for inpatient hospice. Medicaid pays similar rates. This chapter, which recognizes that hospice residences are a compassionate and cost-effective alternative for end-of-life care, became effective on August 1, 2007.

Chapter 471:

Provides for education and outreach regarding advance directives, particularly health care proxies. This chapter became effective August 1, 2007.

Chapter 58:

This chapter enacts major components of legislation necessary to implement the health and mental hygiene budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. In addition to a requirement that the Commissioner of Health provide the Legislature with a report on the effectiveness of all child wellness programs in schools, i.e., childhood obesity prevention, this legislation includes an initiative that requires school districts to report the Body Mass Index of all elementary school students on the school health certificate of each student. Similarly, this chapter established the New York Wellness Works Program, a state/employer partnership intended to encourage health screening, education and incentives tailored to meet the specific health care needs of individual employees.

It also established the Empire State Stem Cell Board within the Department of Health, the purpose of which is to make grants for research and development activities that will further scientific discoveries in fields related to stem cell biology, as well as the New York State False Claims Act for Health Care. Likewise, this chapter’s provisions allow insurance companies to offer policies that continue health insurance coverage on the policies of parents or legal guardians of unmarried children until such children turn 25 and create the premium assistance program for the purchase of family coverage under a group health plan or health insurance coverage that includes coverage of an "eligible child," as that term is defined in Public Health Law § 2510. Furthermore, this chapter requires pharmacies that participate in EPIC and Medicaid to provide the Department of Health with the usual and customary price data for the 150 most prescribed drugs under Education Law § 6826, establishes the "NY CONNECTS" Program, which is intended to provide consistent, comprehensive, locally-based information and assistance on long-term care services to consumers, caregivers and families to help them make educated choices in regard to their long-term care needs and, in recognition of the cultural changes necessary for the improvement of New York’s long-term care delivery system, requires the Department of Health, in conjunction with the Office of the Aging, to study residential health care facilities which consist of one or more architecturally separate homes each designed to care for approximately twelve residents per home. The study shall focus on the efficacy, quality of care, and methodologies for reimbursement of capital and operating costs.

Finally, the chapter mandates the establishment of demonstration rates of payment or fees for telehealth services provided by a certified home health agency, a long-term home health care program or Aids home care program, or for telehealth services by a licensed home care services agency. Such demonstration programs are designed to ensure the availability of technology-based patient monitoring, communication and health management.

Chapter 95:

Amends the Social Services Law and the State Finance Law by authorizing employers and Taft-Hartley funds to offer Family Health Plus insurance plans to all employees or members regardless of their income eligibility and creates the Family Health Plus Employer Partnership Account. Establishes a termination date for the Home Care Health Insurance Demonstration Program which is to be replaced by the Family Health Buy-In Program. The provision of this Chapter authorizing employers and Taft-Hartley funds to offer Family Health Plus insurance plans to employees and members becomes effective on April 1, 2008. The Chapter’s remaining provisions became effective on July 1, 2007.

Chapter 101:

Amends the Social Services Law by removing, for purposes of determining eligibility for the family health plus program, depreciated assets from the gross family income of a self-employed individual operating a farm operation. Signed by the Governor on July 3, 2007, the provisions of this Chapter became effective immediately.

Chapter 607:

This chapter extends the authority of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) to issue bonds for the purpose of refinancing the capital indebtedness of certain health care facilities pursuant to the New York State Medical Care Facilities Finance Agency Act (section 5 of section 1 of Chapter 392 of the Laws of 1973). The Health Facilities Improvement Program, operated in conjunction with the above referenced Act, has been used to secure tax exempt capital financing for urgently needed primary care centers in New York City. With technical and financial assistance provided through the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC), a local business entity engaged in building primary care capacity in underserved communities, a number of bond-financed health centers have opened their doors and expanded their capacity. Through its Small Project Fund, PCDC has also arranged commercial bank financing for primary care projects that are each too small to warrant, by themselves, the complexity of DASNY bond financing. To secure the loans, PCDC has pledged millions of dollars of its own cash reserves. With the authority granted by Chapter 303 of 1999, DASNY may refinance the small primary care projects with loans facilitated by PCDC, thereby replacing the taxable bank debt of these primary care centers with tax-exempt borrowings. Through such tax-exempt refinancing, the interest expense of the primary care centers can be reduced, and PCDC reserves can be used for new projects. This chapter, which became effective August 15, 2007, extends DASNY's authority to refinance these small capital projects until June 30, 2011.

Chapter 609:

Extends until January 1, 2012, the expiration of provisions of the Public Health Law facilitating participation of Department of Health facilities in managed care arrangements. This chapter became effective August 15, 2007.

Chapter 603:

This chapter authorizes a physician’s assistant to prescribe certain controlled substances. While a physician assistant was previously authorized to prescribe schedule II controlled substances in inpatient hospital settings, he or she was limited to prescribing schedule III-V controlled substances in outpatient settings. This chapter amends existing law by authorizing a physician assistant, acting within his or her lawful scope of practice and to the extent assigned by his or her supervising physician, to prescribe schedule II controlled substances. Such a change in the law improves access to pain and behavioral health medications for patients, especially in rural health clinics and medically underserved areas, where there are documented physician shortages within the state. This chapter becomes effective on December 13, 2007.

Chapter 451:

This chapter enhances consumer rights relating to health insurance by: (1) imposing limitations on when pre-authorized services may be denied; (2) broadening protections for when a provider leaves a network; (3) permitting external appeal of out-of-network denials when a health insurance plan is proposing an alternative in-network treatment; (4) requiring the collection and dissemination of preferred provider organization data; and (5) establishing timeframes for submission of claims to managed care providers and family health insurance plans. This act shall take effect April 1, 2008; provided, however, that: sections four, eleven and thirteen of this act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed repealed June 30, 2009; sections two, three and twelve of this act shall take effect on January 1, 2008; provided, however, that subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of section 3238 of the insurance law as added in section twelve of this act shall expire and be deemed repealed December 31, 2009; provided, however, that the amendments to section 364-j of the social services law made by section nine of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith; and sections one, nine and ten of this act shall apply to services provided on or after January 1, 2008.

Chapter 47:

Continues to allow certain Article 28 clinics to bill Medicaid for services related to individual education programs for eligible preschool special education students until the Department of Education implements a new preschool special education rate-setting methodology. This chapter became effective May 29, 2007.

Chapter 355:

Through an amendment to the Social Services Law, this Chapter provides for the suspension of Medicaid benefits for individuals incarcerated in state and local correctional facilities and the immediate reinstatement of those benefits upon their release. This Chapter becomes effective on April 1, 2008.

Chapter 365:

Amends the Education Law and the Public Health Law in relation to requiring oversight, by the Department of Health, of physicians who conduct office-based surgery or invasive procedures. This Chapter becomes effective on January 14, 2008. The provisions which pertain to the accredited status of a licensee, or to the accredited status of a setting in which office-based surgery is performed, however, become effective on June 14, 2009.

Chapter 414:

This chapter relates to the rates of payment for residential health care facilities. Its purpose is to provide a consistent Medicaid nursing home reimbursement rate for specialty nursing homes that treat neurologically impaired children who cannot be appropriately discharged into the community when they age. Such legislation is necessary because currently, specialty nursing homes that treat the neurologically impaired have two rates of payment, one for individuals under 16 and one for individuals 16 and over, despite the fact that virtually the same services are provided. Because of differences in the way the two rates are calculated, the rate for those 16 and over is considerably less than that for those under 16, and thereby does not cover the cost of care for these deserving individuals. Signed into law by the governor August 1, 2007 the provisions of this chapter are deemed to have been in effect as of July 1, 2007.

Chapter 500:

Permits hospitals that meet the eligibility requirements for a Medicaid rate adjustment due to a high number of public insurance program discharges to submit corrected data schedules to the Department of Health. This chapter became effective August 1, 2007.

Chapter 576:

Clarifies the exempt status of certain trust income of disabled individuals in determining eligibility for Medicaid. This chapter became effective August 15, 2007.

Chapter 81:

Amends multiple sections of the Public Health Law in relation to hospital acquired infections and enhances funding support for the provision of HIV services to women, adolescents and children. This Chapter also extends the expiration date of the voluntary immunization registry established for the purposes of tracking and monitoring the immunization of children. The provisions of this Chapter that pertain to hospital acquired infections become effective on January 1, 2008. Signed by the Governor on June 29, 2007, the remaining provisions of this Chapter became effective on that date.

Chapter 131:

This Chapter extends, for an additional two years, the "safe patient handling program," which was established by chapter 738 of the laws of 2005 to identify successful strategies for minimizing the likelihood that health care workers or patients would suffer injuries during the lifting, transferring, repositioning or moving of patients in New York State licensed health care facilities. Signed into law by the Governor on July 3, 2007, the provisions of this Chapter became effective immediately.

Chapter 236:

Amends the Public Health Law by requiring certain providers of automated external defibrillators to post a sign or notice at the main entrance of the facility or building in which the automated external defibrillator is stored indicating the location in the building or facility where such automated external defibrillator can be found. This Chapter becomes effective on November 15, 2007.

Chapter 314:

Amends the Public Health Law by providing statutory authority for the existing Statewide Perinatal Data System and establishes provisions for the use of perinatal data by Regional Perinatal Centers. Signed by the Governor on July 18, 2007, the provisions of this Chapter became effective immediately.

Chapter 317:

Amends the Public Health Law in relation to the public health system’s ability to prepare for and respond to emergency situations. Mandates the electronic reporting of certain diseases and the submission of clinical specimens by clinical laboratories and blood banks, requires water suppliers to submit emergency plans for review once every five years and to update emergency plan communication and notification information annually and requires the Commissioner of Health to keep vulnerability analysis assessments confidential. Signed by the Governor on July 18, 2007, the provisions of this Chapter became effective immediately.

Chapter 427:

Establishes a public umbilical cord banking program within the Department of Health. Requires the department to promote public awareness of the potential benefits of cord blood banking and to promote research regarding the uses of cord blood. This chapter becomes effective January 28, 2008.

Chapter 579:

This chapter, referred to as the "Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2007," establishes a statewide policy intended to reduce the risk of allergy exposure and anaphylaxis in schools by bringing together state agencies, health professionals, parents, educators and school staff to develop statewide recommendations and emergency plans. It became effective August 15, 2007.

Chapter 602:

This chapter amends the public health law in relation to civil penalties for certain violations of the state sanitary code. It is intended to ensure that the Department of Health obtains full federal regulatory primacy for New York’s Public Water System Supervision program while also strengthening public health security by increasing penalties for violations of state sanitary code provisions that pertain to public water systems and permission to promote or convene mass gatherings. This chapter adds a new subdivision (d) to § 206 of the Public Health Law, which authorizes the Commissioner of Health to assess civil penalties of up to $25,000 per day per violation of sanitary code provisions. Such penalties would be more consistent with those assessed by the federal government, as well as other state agencies. Signed by the governor into law on August 15, 2007, this chapter became effective immediately.

Chapter 635:

This chapter amends section 1352 of the public health law by adding a new subdivision to require that food service establishments, other than food service establishments regulated by the Department of Agriculture and Markets, have on staff an individual who has been trained and certified in a course approved by the Commissioner of Health pursuant to Public Health Law § 1355 or by an organization specializing in the safe and proper handling, preparation, cooking, storage, serving, delivery, removal and disposal of food. Its provisions become effective August 27, 2008.

Chapter 393:

This chapter directs the department of health to annually report to the governor and legislature on the incidence of skin cancer in the state. Through knowledge and understanding of the risk factors for developing skin cancer, primarily through exposure to ultraviolet light, one is able to make informed choices and take preventative steps to avoid high risk activities, or at the very least, protect oneself from excessive exposure when risk avoidance is not possible. This chapter became effective August 1, 2007.