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S01594 Summary:

S01594 Actions:

S01594 Committee Votes:

S01594 Floor Votes:

S01594 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          1594
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    January 14, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by Sens. RIVERA, BENJAMIN, GALLIVAN, SERINO -- read twice and
          ordered  printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
          Health
 
        AN ACT to amend the public health  law,  the  tax  law  and  the  social
          services law, in relation to support of living organ donation

          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 "New York state living donor support act".
     3    §  2. The article heading of article 43-B of the public health law, as
     4  added by chapter 589 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
     5           ORGAN[, TISSUE AND BODY PARTS] PROCUREMENT AND [STORAGE]
     6                                DONOR SUPPORT
     7    § 3. Sections 4360 through 4369 of article 43-B of the  public  health
     8  law  are designated title 1, and a new title heading is added to read as
     9  follows:
    10             ORGAN, TISSUE AND BODY PARTS PROCUREMENT AND STORAGE
    11    § 4. Article 43-B of the public health law is amended by adding a  new
    12  title 2 to read as follows:
    13                                    TITLE 2
    14                            LIVING ORGAN DONATION
 
    15  Section 4370. Definitions.
    16          4371. Reimbursement of living donor expenses.
    17          4372. Transplant  education  of  patients with kidney disease or
    18                  end stage renal failure.
    19    § 4370. Definitions. As used in this title, the following terms  shall
    20  have  the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires other-
    21  wise:
    22    1. "Living donation" means the gift by an individual of  an  organ  of
    23  that  individual's  body  to  be  transplanted into another individual's
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00054-02-1
        S. 1594                             2
 
     1  body, the gift to be executed while the donating  individual  is  living
     2  and  with  the intent that the donating individual will continue to live
     3  after the execution of the gift.
     4    2. "Living donor" means an individual who makes a living donation.
     5    3.  "Living donor expenses" means financial costs incurred by a living
     6  donor that arise due to the act of living donation and its consequences,
     7  that are subject to  reimbursement  under  section  forty-three  hundred
     8  seventy-one of this title.
     9    4.  "Living donor support program" or "program" means the living donor
    10  support program established under section forty-three  hundred  seventy-
    11  one of this title.
    12    5.  "Paired  donation"  means  a  living  donation in which the living
    13  donor's organ is incompatible with the ultimate intended  recipient  and
    14  the  living donor's organ is transplanted into another recipient, and in
    15  turn another living donor makes a living donation, directly  or  through
    16  one or more paired donations, to the ultimate recipient.
    17    §  4371.  Reimbursement  of living donor expenses. 1. The living donor
    18  support program is hereby established in the department.
    19    2. (a) Subject to appropriations therefor, the program shall  pay  the
    20  living  donor  expenses for living donors who are residents of the state
    21  and make a living donation  in  which  the  ultimate  recipient,  either
    22  directly  or  through  paired  donation  is a resident of the state. The
    23  commissioner through regulations shall establish eligible  living  donor
    24  expenses  that  are  eligible  for reimbursement under the program which
    25  shall include at a minimum:   lost wages  (including  demonstrated  lost
    26  non-employment  income);  the  economic  value  of sick or vacation days
    27  expended; travel and lodging, child care and elder  care  expenses;  and
    28  costs  of  medications  and  care  associated  with  the living donation
    29  surgery. The total period of time related to lost wages or expended sick
    30  or vacation days shall not exceed  four  weeks  unless  special  circum-
    31  stances  are demonstrated, such as the nature of physical labor required
    32  for the living donor's employment; provided that the total period  shall
    33  in  no  event  exceed  eight weeks.   The commissioner may by regulation
    34  impose a limitation on: (i) the amount of lost wages for a living  donor
    35  making  an income in excess of an annual rate of one hundred twenty-five
    36  thousand dollars; or (ii) the amount  of  living  donor  expenses  above
    37  fourteen  thousand  dollars for any single living donor; and may include
    38  additional living donor expenses including reimbursement  for  costs  of
    39  care performed by relatives or family members of the living donor.
    40    (b)  The  program  shall  not  pay  reimbursement for expenses paid or
    41  required to be paid for by any third-party  payer,  including  wages  or
    42  other  expenses that were covered under paid medical leave by the living
    43  donor's employer or that are covered by other sources  of  reimbursement
    44  such  as  the  federal  National  Living  Donor  Assistance Program. The
    45  program shall be the payer of last resort with respect  to  any  benefit
    46  under the program.
    47    (c)  Living  donor  expenses  shall  be reimbursed as close in time as
    48  possible to their being incurred by the donor, including by  pre-payment
    49  where practicable.
    50    3.  (a)  The  commissioner  may  contract  for  the  administration of
    51  reimbursement under the program. Factors such as cost to the state, ease
    52  of use for the living donor, and  ease  of  use  for  transplant  center
    53  hospitals shall be taken into consideration when awarding such contract.
    54    (b) The commissioner shall make regulations to implement this section.
    55    (c)  This  section shall be interpreted so as not to conflict with the
    56  federal National Organ Transplant Act (42 U.S.C. 274e).
        S. 1594                             3
 
     1    § 4372. Transplant education of patients with kidney  disease  or  end
     2  stage  renal  failure. For any patient with chronic kidney disease stage
     3  four or end stage renal disease, a nephrologist managing  the  patient's
     4  treatment  or,  if the patient is not under the treatment of a nephrolo-
     5  gist then the patient's primary care practitioner, shall consider wheth-
     6  er  the  patient  is  a  candidate  for transplantation under applicable
     7  professional and legal guidelines, and, if the patient appears to  be  a
     8  candidate  for  transplantation,  provide  the  patient  with transplant
     9  education materials including those prepared under section  two  hundred
    10  seven of this chapter.
    11    §  5.  Paragraph  (d)  of  subdivision  1 of section 207 of the public
    12  health law, as amended by section 16 of part A of  chapter  109  of  the
    13  laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
    14    (d)  The need for and importance of organ and tissue donation, includ-
    15  ing living donation, including information about being registered as  an
    16  organ  and  tissue  donor  and executing documents of gift under article
    17  forty-three of this chapter; and information to increase patient  under-
    18  standing  about  the  medical option of transplant and its desirability.
    19  In implementing this paragraph, the department shall  consult  with  the
    20  transplant council in the department.
    21    §  6. Paragraph 38 of subsection (c) of section 612 of the tax law, as
    22  added by chapter 565 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
    23    (38) An amount of up to ten thousand  dollars  if  a  taxpayer,  while
    24  living,  donates one or more of his or her human organs to another human
    25  being for human organ transplantation. For purposes of  this  paragraph,
    26  "human organ" means all or part of a liver, pancreas, kidney, intestine,
    27  lung,  or  bone marrow. A subtract modification allowed under this para-
    28  graph shall be claimed in the taxable year  in  which  the  human  organ
    29  transplantation  occurs.    Provided, however, that this deduction shall
    30  not apply to any donation for which the taxpayer has  received  benefits
    31  under section forty-three hundred seventy-one of the public health law.
    32    §  7. The social services law is amended by adding a new section 365-o
    33  to read as follows:
    34    § 365-o. Provision and coverage of services for living  organ  donors.
    35  This  section applies in the case of a living donor under section forty-
    36  three hundred seventy-one of the public  health  law  who  is  otherwise
    37  eligible  for  medical  assistance under this article. Services for that
    38  person covered under that section that would otherwise  be  health  care
    39  services under this article shall be paid for under this article and not
    40  under  such  section, provided federal financial participation is avail-
    41  able.
    42    § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of April next  succeeding
    43  the  date  on which it shall have become a law; provided that, effective
    44  immediately, the commissioner of health shall make regulations and  take
    45  other actions reasonably necessary to implement this act on that date.