STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
455
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. ORTT -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Develop-
mental Disabilities
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to fairness in organ
donations to persons with physical or mental disabilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new article
2 35 to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 35
4 ORGAN DONATION FAIRNESS ACT
5 Section 35.01 Legislative intent.
6 35.03 Definitions.
7 35.05 Discrimination prohibited.
8 35.07 Enforcement.
9 § 35.01 Legislative intent.
10 The legislature finds that:
11 (a) A mental or physical disability does not diminish a person's right
12 to health care;
13 (b) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 USC 12101, prohib-
14 its discrimination against persons with disabilities, yet many individ-
15 uals with disabilities still experience discrimination in accessing
16 critical health care services;
17 (c) Individuals with mental and physical disabilities have histor-
18 ically been denied life-saving organ transplants based on assumptions
19 that their lives are less worthy, that they are incapable of complying
20 with post-transplant medical regimens, or that they lack adequate
21 support systems to ensure such compliance;
22 (d) Although organ transplant centers must consider medical and
23 psychosocial criteria when determining if a patient is suitable to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01781-01-9
S. 455 2
1 receive an organ transplant, transplant centers that participate in
2 Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal funding programs are required to
3 use patient selection criteria that result in a fair and non-discrimina-
4 tory distribution of organs; and
5 (e) New York residents in need of organ transplants are entitled to
6 assurances that they will not encounter discrimination on the basis of a
7 disability.
8 § 35.03 Definitions.
9 As used in this article:
10 (a) the term "disability" shall have the same meaning set forth in the
11 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended by the ADA Amendments
12 Act of 2008, at 42 USC 12102.
13 (b) the term "auxiliary aids and services" shall include:
14 1. qualified interpreters or other effective methods of making aurally
15 delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments;
16 2. qualified readers, taped texts, or other effective methods of
17 making visually delivered materials available to individuals with visual
18 impairments;
19 3. provision of information in a format that is accessible for indi-
20 viduals with cognitive, neurological, developmental, or intellectual
21 disabilities;
22 4. provision of supported decision making services;
23 5. acquisition or modification of equipment or devices; and
24 6. other similar services and actions.
25 (c) the term "qualified individual" shall mean an individual who, with
26 or without the support networks available to them, provision of auxilia-
27 ry aids and services, or reasonable modifications to policies or prac-
28 tices, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of
29 an anatomical gift.
30 (d) the term "reasonable modifications to policies or practices" shall
31 include:
32 1. communication with individuals responsible for supporting an indi-
33 vidual with post-surgical and post-transplantation care, including medi-
34 cation; and
35 2. consideration of support networks available to the individual,
36 including family, friends, and home and community-based services,
37 including home and community-based services funded through Medicaid,
38 Medicare, another health plan in which the individual is enrolled, or
39 any program or source of funding available to the individual, in deter-
40 mining whether the individual is able to comply with post-transplant
41 medical requirements.
42 (e) the term "anatomical gift" shall mean a donation of all or part of
43 a human body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of
44 transplantation or transfusion.
45 (f) the term "organ transplant" shall mean the transplantation or
46 transfusion of a part of a human body into the body of another for the
47 purpose of treating or curing a medical condition.
48 (g) the term "supported decision making" shall include the use of a
49 support person or persons in order to assist an individual in making
50 medical decisions, communicate information to the individual, or ascer-
51 tain an individual's wishes, including:
52 1. inclusion of the individual's attorney-in-fact, health care proxy,
53 or any person of the individual's choice in communications about the
54 individual's medical care;
S. 455 3
1 2. permitting the individual to designate a person of their choice for
2 the purposes of supporting that individual in communicating, processing
3 information, or making medical decisions;
4 3. provision of auxiliary aids and services to facilitate the individ-
5 ual's ability to communicate and process health-related information,
6 including the use of assistive communication technology;
7 4. provision of information to persons designated by the individual,
8 consistent with the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and
9 Accountability Act of 1996, 42 USC 1301, and other applicable laws and
10 regulations governing disclosure of health information;
11 5. provision of health information in a format that is readily under-
12 standable by the individual; and
13 6. if the individual has a court-appointed guardian or other individ-
14 ual responsible for making medical decisions on behalf of the individ-
15 ual, any measures to ensure that the individual is included in decisions
16 involving his or her own health care and that medical decisions are in
17 accordance with the individual's own expressed interests.
18 (h) the term "covered entity" shall mean:
19 1. any licensed provider of health care services, including licensed
20 health care practitioners, hospitals, nursing facilities, laboratories,
21 intermediate care facilities, psychiatric residential treatment facili-
22 ties, institutions for individuals with intellectual or developmental
23 disabilities, and prison health centers; or
24 2. any entity responsible for matching anatomical gift donors to
25 potential recipients.
26 § 35.05 Discrimination prohibited.
27 (a) A covered entity shall not, solely on the basis of a qualified
28 individual's mental or physical disability:
29 1. deem an individual ineligible to receive an anatomical gift or
30 organ transplant;
31 2. deny medical and related services related to organ transplantation,
32 including evaluation, surgery, counseling, post-operative treatment and
33 services;
34 3. refuse to refer the individual to a transplant center or other
35 related specialist for the purpose of evaluation or receipt of an organ
36 transplant;
37 4. refuse to place an individual on an organ transplant waiting list,
38 or placement of the individual at a lower-priority position on the list
39 than the position at which he or she would have been placed if not for
40 his or her disability; or
41 5. decline insurance coverage for any procedure associated with the
42 receipt of the anatomical gift, including post-transplantation care.
43 (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of this section, a covered entity
44 may take an individual's disability into account when making treatment
45 or coverage recommendations or decisions, solely to the extent that the
46 physical or mental disability has been found by a physician or surgeon,
47 following an individualized evaluation of the potential recipient, to be
48 medically significant to the provision of the anatomical gift. The
49 provisions of this section shall not be deemed to require referrals or
50 recommendations for, or the performance of, medically inappropriate
51 organ transplants.
52 (c) If an individual has the necessary support system to assist the
53 individual in complying with post-transplant medical requirements, an
54 individual's inability to independently comply with those requirements
55 shall not be deemed to be medically significant for the purposes of
56 subdivision (b) of this section.
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1 (d) A covered entity shall make reasonable modifications in policies,
2 practices, or procedures, when such modifications are necessary to make
3 services such as transplantation-related counseling, information, cover-
4 age, or treatment available to qualified individuals with disabilities,
5 unless the entity can demonstrate that making such modifications would
6 fundamentally alter the nature of such services.
7 (e) A covered entity shall take such steps as may be necessary to
8 ensure that no qualified individual with a disability is denied services
9 such as transplantation-related counseling, information, coverage, or
10 treatment because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services, unless
11 the entity can demonstrate that taking such steps would fundamentally
12 alter the nature of the services being offered or would result in an
13 undue burden.
14 (f) A covered entity shall otherwise comply with the requirements of
15 Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 USC 12131,
16 and ADA Amendments Act of 2008.
17 (g) The provisions of this section shall apply to each part of the
18 organ transplant process.
19 § 35.07 Enforcement.
20 (a) The remedy for violations of this article shall be the same as
21 those available under Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabili-
22 ties Act, 42 USC 12131.
23 (b) The court shall accord priority on its calendar and expeditiously
24 proceed with an action brought to seek any remedy authorized by law for
25 purposes of enforcing compliance with the provisions of this article.
26 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
