Increases the number of members on the public health and health planning council from twenty-five to twenty-six and requires one member represent hospice care providers.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7124
SPONSOR: Blumencranz TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to increasing the
number of members on the public health and health planning council
PURPOSE:
This legislation increases the number of seats on the Public Health and
Health Planning Council from twenty-five to twenty-six and requires that
one member be a representative of hospice care providers.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 220 of the public health law, providing that
the Public Health and Health Planning Council's membership shall be
increased from twenty-five to twenty-six members, and further provides
that the additional member is a representative of hospice care provid-
ers.
Section two provides that this act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
Hospice care is the field of healthcare that focuses on preserving
comfort at the end of life. Hospice care plays an integral role in
allowing an individual to pass with peace and dignity. Despite the
importance of hospice care, New York State ranks 50th out of 50 in
hospice care utilization, meaning our terminally ill citizens and their
families are often deprived of one of the most effective tools for
managing pain, distress, and expenses. This legislation seeks to improve
access, quality, and affordability of hospice care in New York by adding
a representative of the hospice care field to the New York State Public
Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC).
Under current law, there is no statutory provision requiring the inclu-
sion of hospice care providers or members from the hospice care field in
the Council's membership. The PHHPC is charged with adopting and amend-
ing hospice operating regulations, and also makes decisions concerning
the establishment and transfer of ownership of hospice programs. The
PHHPC plays a crucial role in regulating healthcare in New York, approv-
ing the establishment and expansion of healthcare facilities, and appro-
priately allocating public resources. The legislature has a duty to
ensure that the council's makeup reflects critical fields in healthcare,
especially the fields directly governed by the PHHPC, like hospice care
programs, and this bill serves that end.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7124
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 11, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BLUMENCRANZ -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to increasing the
number of members on the public health and health planning council
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 220 of the public health law, as amended by chapter
2 179 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 220. Public health and health planning council; appointment of
4 members. There shall continue to be in the department a public health
5 and health planning council to consist of the commissioner and [twenty-
6 five] twenty-six members to be appointed by the governor with the advice
7 and consent of the senate. Membership on the council shall be reflective
8 of the diversity of the state's population including, but not limited
9 to, the various geographic areas and population densities throughout the
10 state. The members shall include representatives of the public health
11 system, health care providers that comprise the state's health care
12 delivery system, individuals with expertise in the clinical and adminis-
13 trative aspects of health care delivery, issues affecting health care
14 consumers, health planning, health care financing and reimbursement,
15 health care regulation and compliance, and public health practice and at
16 least two members shall also be members of the behavioral health
17 services advisory council; at least four members shall be represen-
18 tatives of general hospitals or nursing homes; at least two members
19 shall be representatives of health care consumer advocacy organizations
20 which have a statewide or regional constituency and have been involved
21 in activities related to health care consumer advocacy including issues
22 of interest to low- and moderate-income individuals; and at least one
23 member shall be a representative of each of the following groups:
24 women's health service providers, home care agencies, hospice care
25 providers, diagnostic and treatment centers, health care payors, and
26 labor organizations for health care employees.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10585-01-3
