Approves notice and proof of disability or proof of need for family leave, or proof of disability for a special cross-bow permit, from an attending nurse practitioner
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9609
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the workers' compensation law and the environmental
conservation law, in relation to approving notice and proof of disabili-
ty from an attending nurse practitioner
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To authorize an attending nurse practitioner to complete forms for a
patient regarding proof of disability,
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends subdivisions one and two of section 217 of the work-
ers' compensation law to add nurse practitioners ("NPs") to the list of
attending health care professionals authorized to provide a statement of
disability for a patient for purposes of family leave.
Section one further adds NPs to the list of providers from which an
employee claiming disability benefits may receive a physical if
requested by the employer or carrier.
§ 2 amends subdivisions 16 and 17 of section 11-0901 of the environ-
mental conservation law to add NPs to the list of health care profes-
sionals which may certify that a person is physically incapable to arm
movement sufficient to hold and release a long bow or pre-drawn bow,
JUSTIFICATION:
Under the Nurse Practitioner Modernization Act, NPs with over 3600 hours
of practice experience may practice without physician supervision or
collaboration. Because this was .a relatively recent change to the law,
there are several areas in the law which must be amended to reflect the
reality of NP practice. Currently, about 25% of New Yorkers receive
primary care from a nurse practitioner. However, in many instances, NPs
are not able to provide certain written certifications or other forms
needed by patients because they have not yet been added to the statutory
list of providers authorized to complete such forms. As a result,
patients can experience delays in certifications needed to obtain state
benefits or disability accommodations because they may need to find an
alternative provider to complete the necessary paperwork.
This bill addresses two instances where NPs are not yet included as a
provider authorized to complete necessary patient paperwork. First, this
bill amends the workers' compensation law to add NPs to the list of
attending health care professionals authorized to provide a statement of
disability for a patient for purposes of family leave. It further adds
NPs to the list of providers from which an employee claiming disability
benefits may receive a physical if requested by the employer or carrier,
Second, this bill authorizes NPs to provide a statement affirming that a
patient is physically incapable of arm movement sufficient to draw,
hold, and release a long bow or a pre-drawn bow. Such certification is
necessary to allow individuals with a physical disability to receive an
accommodation for hunting. In both instances, treating the related
condition is already within an NP's scope of practice; these changes
simply make it easier for patients of NPs to obtain the necessary paper-
work from their healthcare provider.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9609
IN ASSEMBLY
January 21, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Labor
AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation law and the environmental
conservation law, in relation to approving notice and proof of disa-
bility from an attending nurse practitioner
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 217 of the workers' compen-
2 sation law, as amended by section 16 of part SS of chapter 54 of the
3 laws of 2016, are amended to read as follows:
4 1. Written notice and proof of disability or proof of need for family
5 leave shall be furnished to the employer by or on behalf of the employee
6 claiming benefits or, in the case of a claimant under section two
7 hundred seven of this article, to the chair, within thirty days after
8 commencement of the period of disability. Additional proof shall be
9 furnished thereafter from time to time as the employer or carrier or
10 chair may require but not more often than once each week. Such proof
11 shall include a statement of disability by the employee's attending
12 physician or attending nurse practitioner or attending podiatrist or
13 attending chiropractor or attending dentist or attending psychologist or
14 attending certified nurse midwife or family leave care recipient's
15 health care provider, or in the case of an employee who adheres to the
16 faith or teachings of any church or denomination, and who in accordance
17 with its creed, tenets or principles depends for healing upon prayer
18 through spiritual means alone in the practice of religion, by an accred-
19 ited practitioner, containing facts and opinions as to such disability
20 in compliance with regulations of the chair. Failure to furnish notice
21 or proof within the time and in the manner above provided shall not
22 invalidate the claim but no benefits shall be required to be paid for
23 any period more than two weeks prior to the date on which the required
24 proof is furnished unless it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the
25 chair not to have been reasonably possible to furnish such notice or
26 proof and that such notice or proof was furnished as soon as possible;
27 provided, however, that no benefits shall be paid unless the required
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11453-02-5
A. 9609 2
1 proof of disability is furnished within the period of actual disability
2 or family leave that does not exceed the statutory maximum period
3 permitted under section two hundred four of this article. No limitation
4 of time provided in this section shall run as against any disabled
5 employee who is mentally incompetent, or physically incapable of provid-
6 ing such notice as a result of a serious medical condition, or a minor
7 so long as such person has no guardian of the person and/or property.
8 2. An employee claiming disability benefits shall, as requested by the
9 employer or carrier, submit [himself or herself] themselves at inter-
10 vals, but not more than once a week, for examination by a physician or
11 nurse practitioner or podiatrist or chiropractor or dentist or psychol-
12 ogist or certified nurse midwife designated by the employer or carrier.
13 All such examinations shall be without cost to the employee and shall be
14 held at a reasonable time and place.
15 § 2. Subdivisions 16 and 17 of section 11-0901 of the environmental
16 conservation law, subdivision 16 as amended by section 13 of part EE of
17 chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, subdivision 17 as added by chapter 424
18 of the laws of 1992, and such subdivisions as renumbered by chapter 762
19 of the laws of 2023, are amended to read as follows:
20 16. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this section, the
21 department may adopt regulations to allow the taking of big game or
22 small game by the use of a long bow equipped with a mechanical device
23 for holding and releasing the bowstring, attached to the handle section
24 of an otherwise legal long bow, to any person with a physical disability
25 who is physically incapable of drawing and holding a long bow because of
26 a physical disability, subject to such restrictions as the department
27 may adopt by regulation. For the purpose of this subdivision, a person
28 with a physical disability shall mean any person who submits to the
29 department a statement of a physician duly licensed to practice medicine
30 or of a duly certified nurse practitioner that such person is physically
31 incapable of arm movement sufficient to draw, hold and release a long
32 bow as defined in subdivision four of this section or as otherwise
33 defined in department regulation. The department is authorized to adopt
34 regulations requiring documentation to establish that an applicant is
35 eligible to use a mechanical device pursuant to this subdivision.
36 17. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this section, the
37 department may issue to a physically disabled person a permit to take
38 big game or small game by the use of a cross-bow equipped with an appa-
39 ratus permitting release of the bowstring by means of such person's
40 discharge of breath. For the purposes of this subdivision, "physically
41 disabled person" shall mean any person who submits to the department a
42 statement of a physician duly licensed to practice medicine in this
43 state, or of a duly certified nurse practitioner, that such person is
44 permanently physically incapable of arm movement sufficient to release a
45 pre-drawn bow authorized under subdivision fifteen of this section.
46 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
47 have become a law.
