Establishes a statewide advance care planning public awareness campaign and a community based advance care planning outreach grant program to fund not-for-profit community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, immigrant-serving organizations, senior-serving agencies, housing-based organizations, and other trusted community partners to conduct advance care planning education, outreach, and navigation.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10477
IN ASSEMBLY
March 6, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRUZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the statewide
advance care planning public awareness campaign and to establish a
community-based advance care planning outreach grant program; and
making an appropriation therefore
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 "Serious Illness Care Equity Act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds that
4 advance care planning is essential to ensuring that individuals with
5 serious illness receive care aligned with their values, preferences, and
6 goals. Although chapter 406 of the laws of 2022 authorized a statewide
7 advance care planning public awareness campaign, such a campaign has
8 neither been funded nor implemented. The purpose of this act is to oper-
9 ationalize that authority, expand equitable access to advance care plan-
10 ning education, and establish a community-based outreach grant program
11 to address persistent racial, cultural, and linguistic disparities.
12 § 3. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 207 of the public
13 health law, as amended by chapter 406 of the laws of 2022, is amended
14 and a new paragraph (e-1) is added to read as follows:
15 (e) (i) The commissioner shall establish a statewide advance care
16 planning campaign to:
17 [(i)] (1) promote public awareness of hospice and palliative care
18 services[;], and palliative care options for patients with a terminal
19 illness or condition;
20 [(ii)] (2) inform the public of the importance of advance care plan-
21 ning and the individual's right to direct and participate in health care
22 decisions affecting the individual;
23 [(iii)] (3) educate individuals on the tools available to ensure their
24 health care decisions are honored; and
25 [(iv)] (4) highlight the need and importance for consumers and
26 patients to have an advance directive, particularly a health care proxy,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14727-02-6
A. 10477 2
1 and the need and importance for health care providers to play a leader-
2 ship role in discussing end-of-life care preferences and values with
3 patients and to provide patients with health care proxy forms.
4 (ii) The department shall implement the statewide advance care plan-
5 ning public awareness campaign authorized pursuant to this paragraph,
6 both directly and via the community-based outreach grants authorized
7 pursuant to paragraph (e-1) of this subdivision. Such campaign shall
8 include statewide media outreach in multiple languages; culturally
9 tailored messaging for underserved communities; dissemination of writ-
10 ten, digital, and broadcast educational materials; development of tools
11 to support advance directives and serious illness decision-making; and
12 enhancement of digital navigation resources.
13 (e-1) (i) The department shall establish a community-based advance
14 care planning outreach grant program to fund not-for-profit community-
15 based organizations, faith-based organizations, including but not limit-
16 ed to immigrant-serving organizations, and other trusted community part-
17 ners to conduct advance care planning education, outreach, and
18 navigation.
19 (ii) The department shall enter into an agreement with an administra-
20 tor to administer the grants and provide oversight of the community-
21 based advanced care planning outreach grant program.
22 (iii) "Administrator" shall mean a statewide membership not-for-profit
23 organization whose primary mission is to promote access to quality end
24 of life care and that is contracted by the department.
25 (iv) Grant funds may be used for multilingual and culturally appropri-
26 ate educational materials; advance care planning navigator programs;
27 home-based counseling and education; community workshops, outreach
28 events, and public engagement activities; and partnerships with hospice
29 programs, palliative care providers and health care systems.
30 (v) Grantees shall report to the administrator and the department on
31 measurable outcomes, including but not limited to the number of individ-
32 uals reached, advance care planning conversations facilitated, and
33 advance directives or related documents completed or supported.
34 (vi) The department shall submit an annual public report to the gover-
35 nor and the legislature evaluating campaign reach, grant program
36 outcomes, and recommendations to improve equitable access to advance
37 care planning.
38 § 4. The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000), or so much thereof
39 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the department of health
40 out of any moneys in the state treasury in the general fund to the cred-
41 it of the community based advance-care planning outreach grant program,
42 not otherwise appropriated, and made immediately available, for the
43 purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act. Such moneys shall be
44 payable on the audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certi-
45 fied or approved by the commissioner of health in the manner prescribed
46 by law.
47 § 5. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
48 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of
49 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
50 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
51 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
52 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
53 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
54 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such
55 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
56 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
