Assembly Bill A9063

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9063
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 18, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. MORELLE, GOTTFRIED, ENGLEBRIGHT, McDONALD, VANEL,
   FAHY,  TAYLOR,  DICKENS,  D'URSO,  SIMON, CAHILL, DINOWITZ, LUPARDO --
   Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GIGLIO, MONTESANO, RA, WALTER  --  read
   once and referred to the Committee on Health
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public  health law, in relation to establishing
   registry systems for  medical  orders  for  life-sustaining  treatment
   (MOLST) and health care proxies
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 2994-dd of the public  health  law  is  amended  by
 adding a new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
   7. (A) AS USED IN THIS SUBDIVISION, "MEDICAL ORDER FOR LIFE-SUSTAINING
 TREATMENT"  ("MOLST") MEANS MEDICAL ORDERS TO PROVIDE, WITHHOLD OR WITH-
 DRAW LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENT. THE MOLST FORM IS  AN  ALTERNATIVE  FORM
 AUTHORIZED  BY  THE  COMMISSIONER UNDER SUBDIVISION SIX OF THIS SECTION.
 THE MOLST FORM AND GUIDANCE AND CHECKLISTS FOR USING THE MOLST FORM  FOR
 ANY PATIENT IN ANY SETTING SHALL BE POSTED ON THE DEPARTMENT'S WEBSITE.
   (B)  THE  COMMISSIONER MAY APPROVE ONE OR MORE FORMS UNDER SUBDIVISION
 SIX OF THIS SECTION THAT MAY, BUT ARE NOT REQUIRED TO,  BE  USED  FOR  A
 MEDICAL  ORDER  FOR  LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENT. THE FORMS APPROVED UNDER
 THIS SECTION SHALL BE POSTED ON THE  DEPARTMENT'S  WEBSITE  IN  SUITABLY
 DOWNLOADABLE FORM.
   (C)  ANY  HEALTH CARE PROVIDER WHO COMPLETES AND SIGNS A MEDICAL ORDER
 FOR LIFE SUSTAINING TREATMENT SHALL SUBMIT A COPY  TO  THE  HEALTH  CARE
 DECISIONS  DOCUMENT  REGISTRY  UNDER SECTION TWENTY-NINE HUNDRED EIGHTY-
 SIX-A OF THIS CHAPTER WITHIN FOURTEEN DAYS OF COMPLETION.
   § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new  section  2986-a
 to read as follows:
   §  2986-A. HEALTH CARE DECISIONS DOCUMENT REGISTRY. 1. AS USED IN THIS
 SECTION, THE FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING  MEANINGS,  UNLESS
 THE CONTEXT CLEARLY REQUIRES OTHERWISE:
   (A) "HEALTH CARE DECISIONS DOCUMENT" OR "DOCUMENT" INCLUDES BUT IS NOT
 LIMITED  TO  A  HEALTH  CARE  PROXY  UNDER THIS ARTICLE, AN ORDER NOT TO
 RESUSCITATE UNDER ARTICLE TWENTY-NINE-B  OF  THIS  CHAPTER,  A  DOCUMENT
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13891-01-7

 A. 9063                             2
 
 EXPRESSING  THE  PATIENT'S  WISHES  OR  BELIEFS  RELATING  TO  TREATMENT
 (COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS A LIVING WILL),  A  NONHOSPITAL  ORDER  NOT  TO
 RESUSCITATE  UNDER  ARTICLE  TWENTY-NINE-CCC  OF THIS CHAPTER, A MEDICAL
 ORDER  FOR  LIFE-SUSTAINING  TREATMENT UNDER SECTION TWENTY-NINE HUNDRED
 NINETY-FOUR-DD OF THIS CHAPTER, AND ANY JUDICIAL  ORDER  DESIGNATING  AN
 INDIVIDUAL AS A GUARDIAN AUTHORIZED TO MAKE ANY HEALTH CARE DECISION FOR
 A PATIENT; INCLUDING SUCH A DOCUMENT IN ELECTRONIC OR OTHER FORM.
   (B)  "HEALTH CARE DECISIONS DOCUMENT REGISTRY" OR "REGISTRY" MEANS THE
 SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER UNDER  SUBDIVISION  TWO  OF  THIS
 SECTION.
   2. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN THE HEALTH CARE DECI-
 SIONS  DOCUMENTS  REGISTRY,  WHICH  SHALL  BE  AN  ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR
 COLLECTING, MAINTAINING, AND TRANSMITTING HEALTH  CARE  DECISIONS  DOCU-
 MENTS, INCLUDING A SEARCHABLE DATABASE OF INFORMATION.
   3.  THE REGISTRY SHALL BE SEARCHABLE, AND SHALL BE CAPABLE OF RETRIEV-
 ING HEALTH CARE DECISIONS DOCUMENTS INCLUDED IN THE REGISTRY AND PRODUC-
 ING AND DISTRIBUTING DIGITAL COPIES OF SUCH DOCUMENTS. DIGITAL COPIES OF
 SUCH DOCUMENTS PRODUCED BY THE REGISTRY SHALL BE  LEGALLY  VALID  AS  IF
 COPIED FROM THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT.
   4.  THE REGISTRY SHALL INCLUDE IDENTIFYING AND CONTACT INFORMATION FOR
 THE PATIENT AND, AS APPROPRIATE, THE  PATIENT'S  HEALTH  CARE  AGENT  OR
 OTHER  PERSON  WHO  IS OR IS LIKELY TO BE AUTHORIZED TO MAKE HEALTH CARE
 DECISIONS FOR THE PATIENT WHEN THE PATIENT LACKS DECISION-MAKING CAPACI-
 TY, AND APPROPRIATE HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS.
   5. ANY PATIENT OR HIS OR HER HEALTH CARE AGENT,  SURROGATE,  ATTENDING
 PHYSICIAN,  OR OTHER PERSON ACTING ON THE PATIENT'S BEHALF, MAY SUBMIT A
 COPY OF A PATIENT'S HEALTH CARE DECISIONS DOCUMENT TO  THE  REGISTRY  IN
 ACCORDANCE WITH PROTOCOLS ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER.
   6.  WHEN  A  DOCUMENT  PREVIOUSLY  SUBMITTED  TO THE REGISTRY HAS BEEN
 REVOKED OR MODIFIED BY THE MAKER OF THE DOCUMENT, IT SHALL BE  THE  DUTY
 OF THE INDIVIDUAL WHO SUBMITTED THE DOCUMENT TO THE REGISTRY TO TRANSMIT
 TO THE REGISTRY NOTIFICATION OF SUCH REVOCATION OR MODIFICATION PROMPTLY
 WHEN THE INDIVIDUAL LEARNS OF THE REVOCATION OR MODIFICATION.
   7.  THE  COMMISSION  SHALL  ESTABLISH  REQUIREMENTS AND A MECHANISM TO
 PROVIDE HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS ACCESS TO THE REGISTRY, EITHER  THROUGH  A
 WEBSITE-BASED SYSTEM OR TOLL-FREE CALLING SYSTEM.
   8.  THE  COMMISSIONER  SHALL  ESTABLISHED  AND  IMPLEMENT PROTOCOLS TO
 ENSURE THAT DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION TRANSMITTED TO  AND  CONTAINED  IN
 THE  REGISTRY ARE MAINTAINED IN A SECURE AND CONFIDENTIAL MANNER AND ARE
 ACCESSIBLE ONLY BY USERS DESIGNATED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND AVAILABLE IN
 AN EMERGENCY. SUCH PROTOCOLS SHALL INCLUDE A MECHANISM  TO  MONITOR  AND
 RECORD ACCESS TO THE REGISTRY.
   9. THERE SHALL BE NO FEE OR CHARGE FOR SUBMITTING A DOCUMENT OR INFOR-
 MATION  TO  OR  STORING  IT  ON THE REGISTRY, SEARCHING THE REGISTRY, OR
 OBTAINING A COPY OF A DOCUMENT OR INFORMATION FROM THE REGISTRY.
   10. THE COMMISSIONER MAY ENTER INTO  A  MULTI-YEAR  CONTRACT  FOR  THE
 OPERATION  OF  THE REGISTRY, SUBJECT TO SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS MAY
 BE CONTAINED WITHIN SUCH CONTRACT, WITH A  NOT-FOR-PROFIT  ORGANIZATION.
 THE  CONTRACTOR  MAY SUBCONTRACT AS NEEDED FOR THE EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE
 OF THE CONTRACT. ALL SUCH SUBCONTRACTORS AND THE TERMS OF  SUCH  SUBCON-
 TRACTS SHALL BE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL BY THE COMMISSIONER.
   11.  THE  COMMISSIONER  SHALL  MAKE  REGULATIONS  TO  EFFECTUATE  THIS
 SECTION.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.