The Assembly Committee on Health favorably reported 13 bills today. For more information on a particular bill, please contact the sponsor listed after the description.

"Medical Home" Primary Care - Helping to raise primary care providers to "medical home" standards is a key goal of health care reform. Medicaid is moving towards supporting "medical home" models of care. A state-promoted regional demonstration project in the Adirondacks is getting all health plans to pay primary care providers to support medical home services (including care coordination, after-hours access, and use of electronic health records). This bill would create similar public-private programs statewide. (A.9917, Gottfried)

Healthcare Rule-Making Reform Act - Restructures the membership of the State Hospital Review and Planning Council to include greater representation for healthcare consumers, healthcare professionals, and labor. (A.9822, Lancman)

Nursing Home Care Standards - Establishes a "patient diversion" system for nursing homes that are unable to provide a minimum standard of care or services. New patients would not be admitted until the nursing home met care standards. (A.1721, Gottfried)

Lead Monitoring in Children's Products - Requires the Health Department to monitor the lead levels in candy, soft vinyl lunch boxes, and bibs. (A.1745, Englebright)

Prison Health Standards - Health Department regulation and oversight of health facilities excludes prison and jail health facilities. This bill would include these facilities to ensure inmates receive proper health care. (A.1747, Gottfried)

Asthma Prevention and Treatment - Forms the Minority Coordinating Council on Asthmatic Affairs within the Health Department to address the high-risk of asthma among ethnic minorities and to improve awareness and management of asthma prevention and treatment. (A.5366, Arroyo)

Protecting Access to Care - Requires the Health Department to ensure the preservation of access to necessary services when it considers applications for hospital mergers, construction, etc. (A.5805, Pretlow)

Preserving Patients' Rights - Requires hospitals to post patient rights to care regardless of immigration status and bars hospital personnel from inquiring as to a patient's immigration status. (A.6478-A, Ortiz)

Proper Handling of Drug Samples - Establishes record keeping and safety standards for the use of samples distributed by drug companies, to reduce the risk of dispensing outdated, expired, improperly stored, or adulterated drugs that can cause adverse drug reactions. (A.7066, Gottfried)

Flavored Tobacco Product Restrictions - Helps to decrease the incidence of tobacco use among children by prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products. (Recent Federal restrictions only apply to cigarettes.) (A.9482, Paulin)

E-Cigarette Limitations - Prohibits the sale of "electronic cigarettes" to minors and bans the sale of items not defined as tobacco products or approved by the FDA for tobacco use cessation or harm reduction. (A.9529, Rosenthal)

Adult Home Deaths and Felonies - Reporting - Requires faster reporting of any death, attempted suicide or felony in an adult home. The adult home would report to the Department of Health and the police within 24 hours of discovery (current law is 48 hours). (A.9554, Gottfried)

Adult Home Temporary Operators - When an adult home dangerously fails to meet standards, creating an emergency, the Health Department can appoint a temporary operator to run it. This bill makes clear that the temporary operator has broad authority (like a court-appointed receiver) to run the facility to protect the health, safety, and quality of life of the residents. (A.9555, Gottfried)