Institutes a moratorium on the closure of hospitals until the department of health completes a comprehensive analysis and report on the impact of such closures on healthcare access in New York state.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9819
SPONSOR: Wallace TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to instituting a
moratorium on the closure of hospitals until the department of health
completes a comprehensive analysis of the impact of such closures on
healthcare access in New York state
PURPOSE:
This legislation is designed to halt the current wave of hospital
closures by implementing a statewide moratorium. The bill requires the
Department of Health to collect and evaluate detailed data on healthcare
facilities throughout New York State. This data will be used to identify
and address the specific needs of distressed healthcare facilities,
thereby safeguarding healthcare access statewide.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Provides the title of the bill as the "2024 Hospital Closure
Moratorium Act."
Section 2: Provides legislative findings and declares a public emergency
regarding hospital closures across New York State.
Section 3: Amends the public health law by adding a new section 2831,
which:
(1) Provides the definition of "healthcare facility" that will be used
in this section.
(2) Creates a moratorium on the closure of hospitals until the Depart-
ment of Health completes a statewide report on the aggregate impact of
the closure of hospitals.
(3) Sets out the requirements of the report concerning
a. statewide data, including the number of healthcare facilities, the
number of hospital beds, the average and number of Medicare and Medicaid
recipients, historical and projected market shares of all healthcare
providers, the median distance between providers, and
b. each healthcare facility, including patient demographics, the number
of Medicaid and Medicare recipients, the number of medical staff
employed, and transportation options for users of the facility.
(4) Requires the Department of Health to engage public health experts,
hospital labor representatives, community leaders, and New York State
residents when completing the report. The report must be distributed to
leaders in the legislature and posted publicly on the Department of
Health's website.
(5) Requires that the report be used to designate "distressed healthcare
zones," in which the Department of Health must reject any application
for closure by a healthcare facility and prioritize allocations of
healthcare spending.
Section 4: Provides that the bill shall take effect immediately and that
the commissioner of health and public health and the health planning
council shall make regulations and take other actions reasonably neces-
sary to implement the act.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State is experiencing an undeclared healthcare emergency.
Currently, at least 12 hospitals in the state have filed applications
for closure, and 21 rural New York hospitals are at risk of immediate
closure. This trend threatens access to essential healthcare services
for millions of New Yorkers across the State and exacerbates existing
health disparities, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable
populations in underserved areas.
In response to this urgent situation, this legislation imposes a morato-
rium on the closure of healthcare facilities, providing a crucial oppor-
tunity for the New York Department of Health to better understand this
crisis and intervene effectively. During this moratorium, the State
Department of Health will collect and analyze statewide data and data
from individual healthcare facilities to assess the current state of
healthcare in New York State and determine how further closures of
healthcare facilities might impact healthcare locally and statewide. By
examining factors such as geographic distribution, patient demographics,
financial viability, and quality of care, the Department of Health can
identify areas of need and develop targeted interventions to address
this ongoing healthcare emergency.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9819
IN ASSEMBLY
April 9, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALLACE -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to instituting a
moratorium on the closure of hospitals until the department of health
completes a comprehensive analysis of the impact of such closures on
healthcare access in New York state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "2024 hospital closure moratorium act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and declaration of emergency. The legisla-
4 ture hereby finds and declares all of the following:
5 1. The serious public emergency regarding hospital closures across New
6 York state continues to exist, and this emergency puts individuals at a
7 heightened risk of death, illness, and economic hardship. These closures
8 impact both public and private healthcare facilities, full-service
9 hospitals, and critical care units.
10 2. The legislature therefore finds and declares that in order to
11 prevent death, hardship, and other negative health outcomes to New York
12 state residents, the provisions of this act are necessary to protect
13 public health, safety, and general welfare. The necessity in the public
14 interest for the provisions hereinafter enacted is hereby declared as a
15 matter of legislative determination.
16 § 3. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2831 to
17 read as follows:
18 § 2831. Hospital closure moratorium. 1. For purposes of this section,
19 "healthcare facility" shall mean hospitals and other healthcare centers
20 providing emergency services, intensive care services, cardiac and
21 stroke services, maternity services, cancer treatment services, psychi-
22 atric emergency services, gender identity services, urgent care services
23 and pediatric services.
24 2. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
25 contrary, the state shall institute a moratorium on the closure of
26 hospitals until the department completes a statewide report examining
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15041-01-4
A. 9819 2
1 the aggregate impact of such closures on healthcare access in New York
2 state. During such moratorium, no hospital shall close or reduce capac-
3 ity below the hospital's capacity as of the date the moratorium was
4 imposed unless the department requests an exemption for the healthcare
5 facility and said exemption is approved by the legislature.
6 3. The report shall collect data including but not limited to:
7 (a) statewide data on:
8 (i) the number of healthcare facilities in each county;
9 (ii) the average number of total and available hospital beds in each
10 county;
11 (iii) the average number of medicare and Medicaid recipients, and the
12 percentage of insured and uninsured patients served, by county;
13 (iv) the number of medicare and Medicaid recipients, and the percent-
14 age of insured and uninsured patients served, by county;
15 (v) historical and projected market shares of all hospital networks
16 and healthcare service providers in New York state; and
17 (vi) the median distance between healthcare facilities that provide
18 similar services; and
19 (b) data by healthcare facilities on:
20 (i) the race, sex, gender, age, economic status, and disability status
21 of patients served by each healthcare facility;
22 (ii) the number of medicare and Medicaid recipients, and the percent-
23 age of insured and uninsured patients served;
24 (iii) the number of physicians and professional staff employed at the
25 healthcare facility; and
26 (iv) access to the healthcare facility by public or private transpor-
27 tation, including transportation sponsored by the healthcare facility
28 itself.
29 4. In completing this report, the department shall meaningfully engage
30 public health experts, labor representatives of the hospital workforce,
31 community leaders and residents of New York state. The findings of such
32 report shall be provided in electronic format and shall be distributed
33 to the temporary president and minority leader of the senate, the speak-
34 er and minority leader of the assembly, the chair of the senate standing
35 committee on health, and the chair of the assembly health committee. The
36 department shall publicly post the report on the department's website
37 within one week of the filing.
38 5. The report shall use the data collected to define and identify
39 areas at risk of future hospital closures. These areas shall be desig-
40 nated "distressed healthcare zones". The department shall reject appli-
41 cations for closures issued by healthcare facilities in any distressed
42 healthcare zone. Distressed healthcare zones shall be prioritized when
43 allocating healthcare spending.
44 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. The commissioner of
45 health and the public health and health planning council shall make
46 regulations and take other actions reasonably necessary to implement
47 this act.
