Relates to increasing membership on the public health and health planning council and directing the appointment of members representing particular areas of concern.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9530
SPONSOR: Gottfried TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to membership on the
public health and health planning council
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
To expand the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) to
include additional consumer representation
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends § 220 of the Public Health Law to increase
the number of PHHPC appointees by the Governor from 24 to 26. The addi-
tional 2 shall be representatives of consumer organizations under a new
definition of health care consumer advocacy organizations.
Section 2 of the bill is the effect date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) makes decisions
and recommendations to the Commissioner of Health regarding health care
facility establishment, transfer, construction, and services and Health
Department regulations. Established by Public Health Law § 225, PHHPC
currently has 24 members appointed by the Governor with the advice and
consent of the Senate. Of these 24, 11 are in required categories and
the other 13 are chosen from among an extremely broad category encom-
passing practically the entirety of health care provision and payment.
Consumer advocates have raised concerns that this has created a struc-
ture that significantly underrepresents patients directly affected by
the Council's decisions with just one consumer appointee.
This bill addresses this concern by adding additional consumer represen-
tatives. The bill also spells out a clearer definition of "health care
consumer advocacy organization" than is in current law in order to
ensure that the concerns of low- and moderate- income patients are
heard.
This bill is a modification of A4071/S870 of 2019. A4071/S870 would have
increased PHHPC membership from 24 to 36 people. In the veto message the
Governor raised quorum concerns due to size of the increase, but also
said he supported the intent of diversifying PHHPC to reflect the commu-
nity and that he would appoint additional consumer advocates. However,
a statutory chance is necessary in order to create the additional seats
for those consumers.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate, applying to all members appointed or re-appointed on or after
that date.
