The Assembly Committee on Health favorably reported 7 bills on Thursday, January 24, including legislation to ensure that patients know their rights in hospital settings and that visually impaired patients receive audio recordings of their discharge plans. For more information on a particular bill, please contact the sponsor listed after the description. For the text of a bill, supporting memorandum, and information on its status, go to: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cgi.

Genetic Disease Screening and Counseling – Authorizes grants for familial dysautonomia, Canavan’s and Tay-Sachs disease screening and counseling, subject to appropriation. (A314, Dinowitz)

Assisting Visually Impaired Patients – Entitles all blind and visually impaired hospital patients to an audio recording of their discharge plan. (A746, Rosenthal)

Lead Monitoring in Children’s Products – Requires the Health Department to regulate the lead levels in candy, soft vinyl lunch boxes, and bibs, and prohibits the sale or distribution of candy with lead. (A1755, Englebright)

Preserving Patients’ Rights – Requires hospitals to post notices about patient rights to receive care regardless of immigration status and bars hospitals from inquiring about a patient’s immigration status. (A1917, Ortiz)

Automated External Defibrillators on Golf Courses – Requires all golf courses to have at least one automated external defibrillator and a trained operator on staff during hours of operation. (A2114, Markey)

Streamlining Health Plan Credentialing – Requires health plans to use standardized forms (developed by the Health Commissioner) for health care providers applying to be included in a health care plan’s network and for referrals. (A2673, Gottfried)

Disposition of Human Remains – Simplifies the process for an individual designating responsibility for his/her remains. (A.591, Gottfried)