NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1071C
SPONSOR: Rodriguez TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the social services law, in relation
to providing managed care enrollees access to the services of the foot
center of New York
PURPOSE:
Amending the social service law to designate an academic podiatry center
as a State Specialty Care Center for its podiatry services and to iden-
tify the treatment of diabetes as a specialty care practice.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends the following: Reletters paragraph (f) of subparagraph
(iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 364-j to (G) and adds
a new clause (F) to mandate the reporting of services provided at an
academic podiatry center.
Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately, provided however,
that the amendment to section 364-j of the social services law made by
sections one and two of this act shall not affect the repeal of such
section and shall be deemed to repealed therewith.
JUSTIFICATION:
The affordability and accessibility of podiatric services such as those
provided by an academic podiatry center is a lifeline for residents in
low-income communities like Harlem where the vast majority of the popu-
lation is grappling with diabetes and on some form of public assistance.
Diabetes, however, is a citywide epidemic that that has more than
doubled over the past-according to the NYC Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene Diabetes. More than half a million adult New Yorkers have
been diagnosed with diabetes and additional 200,000 have diabetes but do
not yet know it. Diabetes and diabetes-associated cardiovascular disease
are leading causes of death in NYC. These figures are worse in East
Harlem where residents have up to 5 times the mortality rates of
diabetes as compared with NYC residents overall-with the vast majority
of individuals on Medicaid or Medicare, or uninsured. Given these atro-
cious statistics, preserving affordable and accessible care at podiatry
clinics such as Foot Care Center of Mew York, the only podiatric clinic
in upper Manhattan is a citywide imperative. Under the Managed Long Term
Care reform enrollees will no longer have free access to the podiatry
clinic and will be forced to get these services outside of their commu-
nity or in emergency rooms as cases go undetected or untreated. "Free
access" means that managed care plan enrollees are free to access these
clinics, regardless of whether the clinic is in their plans network and
without the plans prior approval. Currently, the State allows free
access to managed care enrollees at the SUNY College of Optometry as
well as academic dental centers-but not for academic podiatry centers.
According to the State Department of Health Commissioner "free access
requirements are pursuant to statute and are not under the purview of
the Department.
This legislation seeks to amend the Social Service Law statute for the
sole purpose of preserving the accessibility and affordability of the
specialty services which combat diabetes provided at the limited number
of podiatric clinics, like an academic podiatry center.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Legislation
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Effective Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1071--C
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 9, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. RODRIGUEZ, RIVERA, COLTON, HOOPER, KATZ, SCHIMEL
-- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BROOK-KRASNY, COOK, TITONE, WEPRIN
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amend-
ments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
-- recommitted to the Committee on Health in accordance with Assembly
Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to providing
managed care enrollees access to the services of the foot center of
New York
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Clause (F) of subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of
2 subdivision 4 of section 364-j of the social services law, as relettered
3 by chapter 37 of the laws of 2010, is relettered clause (G) and a new
4 clause (F) is added to read as follows:
5 (F) the services are podiatric services and are provided by a diagnos-
6 tic and treatment center licensed by article twenty-eight of the public
7 health law which is affiliated with an academic podiatric center which
8 has been granted an operating certificate pursuant to article twenty-
9 eight of the public health law to provide such podiatric services. Any
10 diagnostic and treatment center providing podiatric services pursuant to
11 this clause shall prior to June first of each year report to the gover-
12 nor, temporary president of the senate and speaker of the assembly on
13 the following: the total number of visits made by medical assistance
14 recipients during the immediately preceding calendar year; the number of
15 visits made by medical assistance recipients during the immediately
16 preceding calendar year by recipients who were enrolled in managed care
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02971-06-4
A. 1071--C 2
1 programs; the number of visits made by medical assistance recipients
2 during the immediately preceding calendar year by recipients who were
3 enrolled in managed care programs that provide podiatric benefits as a
4 covered service; and the number of visits made by the uninsured during
5 the immediately preceding calendar year; or
6 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately, provided however, that
7 the amendments to section 364-j of the social services law made by
8 section one of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section and
9 shall be deemed to be repealed therewith.
