NY State Senate Bill 2017-S9131

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
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Delivered to Governor
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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jul 09, 2018	referred to rules

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2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§1380, 1370-a, 1370-e & 1373, Pub Health L; amd §§3216, 3221 & 4303, Ins L; amd §365-a, Soc Serv L; amd §14, Pub Hous L
Versions Introduced in 2019-2020 Legislative Session:: S499

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to elevated lead levels in children; establishes that elevated lead levels means a blood lead level greater than or equal to five micrograms per deciliter of whole blood; requires the department of health to establish a hotline for physicians to report elevated lead levels; and requires insurance companies to cover testing for elevated lead levels.

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S9131

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, the insurance
law, the social services law and the public housing law, in relation to
elevated lead levels in children

 
PURPOSE:

To establish a comprehensive system of preventive measures that address
instances of elevated blood lead levels in all children.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 proclaims this act to be known as Dakota's Law.

Section 2 changes the definition of elevated blood level for all chil-
dren to 5 micrograms.

Section 3 requires the following to be created and included as part of
the lead poisoning program:

I.Establish a process that allows physicians to record on the statewide
immunization information system when their child-aged patient has
completed a lead screening and/or obtained a blood test for lead

II.Develop, as part of lead screening, a lead exposure risk assessment
questionnaire for children that includes a question asking if a child
has obtained a blood test for lead at the ages of 12 months old and 24
months old

III.Establish a hotline operated by the Department of Health, to serve
as a centralized system for physicians to report elevated lead levels

Section 4 requires physicians to report cases of elevated blood levels
for all children to the local or state health officer to whom is author-
ized to receive and handle such cases.

Section 5 requires the jurisdictional local or state health departments
to investigate cases of elevated lead levels reported by physicians.
This section also allows jurisdictional local health departments to
request assistance from the state department of health if they do not
have the capacity or resources to conduct the investigations.

Sections 6, 7 and 8 requires insurance companies to provide coverage for
screening and blood tests of children for elevated lead levels.

Section 9 adds screening and blood tests of elevated blood levels in all
children as a covered preventive service under Medicaid.

Section 10 directs the commissioner of the division of housing and
community renewal to promulgate rules, regulations and policies that:

I.Establishes the action level for lead to 5 micrograms of lead per
deciliter of whole blood when identifying elevated blood levels in chil-
dren occupying a dwelling in any public housing projects

II.Requires public housing projects to follow the federal department
housing and urban development's guidance on lead safe housing rule
pertaining to elevated blood levels for public housing, housing choice
voucher, and project-based housing voucher programs

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Dakota's Law will strengthen protocols for parents, guardians, health-
care providers, state and local health officers, and public housing
officials to address signs of lead poisoning in all children proactive-
ly. Currently in New York State, a child is only considered to have
elevated blood lead levels if they are found to have ten micrograms or
more per deciliter of whole blood and are only expected to be tested at
12 and 24 months. According to the World Health Organization, a child
reaching 10 micrograms faces developmental toxicity, or permanent
damage, due to lead exposure. The United States Center for Disease
Control recently changed their "blood lead levels of concern" from 10 to
5 micrograms, so that taking action at 5 micrograms can help families
address the cause of exposure before the permanent effects of this
preventable health condition are realized.

Dakota's Law is conceived by the mother of Dakota, a child living in
NYCHA who experienced increasing blood lead levels throughout her child-
hood. Dakota's mother proactively took her children to the doctor and
asked for the appropriate testing each year. From one year to the next,
Dakota's blood lead levels jumped from 5 micrograms to 45. This has left
Dakota with permanent developmental challenges that affect her educa-
tion. If this bill had been law at the time that Dakota's test indicated
concerning blood lead levels, steps would have been taken to identify
and address the lead exposure in her home before it became detrimental
to her health.

This bill would prompt healthcare professionals, state and local health
officers, and public health officials to take a proactive approach to
prevent permanent damage to a child's health and development from lead
exposure. In particular, under this bill, healthcare providers would
have a reporting mandate to local and state health officers which should
ensure families' homes are inspected and that the source of the exposure
is eliminated before a child's blood lead levels are permanently detri-
mental to their health. Additionally, there is a recommendation to the
Advisory Council on Lead Poisoning Prevention to develop a mechanism for
health care providers to report results of lead tests through the New
York State Immunization System and to create a hotline for healthcare
providers throughout the state to report elevated blood lead levels.
This is important because there should be recorded status of a child's
blood lead levels, especially at the very early stages of a child begin-
ning their education, and so that healthcare providers can alert health
officers easily.

This bill codifies the elevated blood lead levels throughout state law
at the lower level of concern and provides that lead screening and test-
ing be available to all children by expanding parameters for Medicaid
coverage in New York State to include these preventive services. This
bill also urges the Advisory Council on Lead Poisoning Prevention to
recommend private health insurances to also include lead screenings and
testing as preventive services for children of all ages. Since lead can
be hard to detect in their environment, children need to be screened and
tested throughout the critical first years of brain and body development
and ensure that the first signs of lead exposure are addressed, rather
than waiting until their blood lead levels are damaging. All children
and their families should have access to these services so that we can
eradicate sources of lead exposure and poisoning.

Children are exposed through breathing in or ingesting lead paint or
other materials, including lead dust in their environment, and younger
children face increased risks of elevated blood lead levels since their
bodies are still developing, specifically their neurological and diges-
tive systems, making them more susceptible to absorption of this toxic
material. Young children are more vulnerable to lead exposure and more
likely to develop permanent damage if exposed, including developmental
delay, learning difficulties, hearing loss, seizures, loss of appetite,
and irritability. Older children who display these symptoms deserve
access to testing to address the exposure they encountered and to assess
any educational needs they need after being left undiagnosed. This bill
seeks to ensure all children are tested, especially when they are most
at risk, and to mandate reporting of elevated blood levels early to
prevent unnecessary lead paint exposure and poisoning in the State of
New York.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9131
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               July 9, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law, the  insurance  law,  the  social
   services  law and the public housing law, in relation to elevated lead
   levels in children
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Dakota's Law".
   §  2.  Subdivision  6  of  section  1370  of the public health law, as
 amended by chapter 485 of the laws  of  1992,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   6.  "Elevated  lead  levels"  means a blood lead level greater than or
 equal to [ten] FIVE micrograms of lead per deciliter of whole  blood  or
 such  LOWER  blood  lead  level  as may be established by the department
 pursuant to rule or regulation.
   § 3. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision 2 of section 1370-a of  the
 public  health  law,  paragraph (c) as amended by section 4 of part A of
 chapter 58 of the laws of 2009, and paragraph (d) as  added  by  chapter
 485  of  the laws of 1992, are amended and three new paragraphs (e), (f)
 and (g) are added to read as follows:
   (c) establish a statewide registry of lead levels of children provided
 such information is maintained as confidential except for (i) disclosure
 for medical  treatment  purposes;  (ii)  disclosure  of  non-identifying
 epidemiological  data;  and  (iii)  disclosure  of information from such
 registry to the statewide immunization information system established by
 section twenty-one hundred sixty-eight of this chapter; [and]
   (d) develop and implement  public  education  and  community  outreach
 programs on lead exposure, detection and risk reduction[.];
   (E)  ESTABLISH A PROCESS THAT ALLOWS PHYSICIANS TO RECORD WHEN A CHILD
 UNDER SUCH PHYSICIAN'S  CARE  HAS  COMPLETED  A  LEAD  SCREENING  AND/OR
 OBTAINED A BLOOD TEST FOR LEAD TO THE STATEWIDE IMMUNIZATION INFORMATION
 SYSTEM  ESTABLISHED  BY  SECTION  TWENTY-ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-EIGHT OF THIS
 CHAPTER;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD15313-03-8

 S. 9131                             2
 
   (F) ADD A QUESTION TO THE LEAD EXPOSURE RISK ASSESSMENT  QUESTIONNAIRE
 FOR  CHILDREN  WHICH  SHALL  INCLUDE  A QUESTION ASKING IF THE CHILD HAS
 OBTAINED A BLOOD TEST FOR LEAD AT THE AGES  OF  TWELVE  MONTHS  OLD  AND
 TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS OLD; AND
   (G) ESTABLISH A HOTLINE, TO BE OPERATED BY THE DEPARTMENT, TO SERVE AS
 A  CENTRALIZED  SYSTEM  FOR PHYSICIANS TO REPORT ELEVATED LEAD LEVELS AS
 REQUIRED PURSUANT TO SECTION THIRTEEN HUNDRED SEVENTY-E OF  THIS  TITLE.
 THE DEPARTMENT SHALL UTILIZE THE INFORMATION REPORTED TO SUCH HOTLINE TO
 NOTIFY  THE  APPROPRIATE  LOCAL OR STATE HEALTH OFFICER OF ELEVATED LEAD
 LEVELS AS REQUIRED TO BE REPORTED PURSUANT TO THIS TITLE.
   § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 1370-e of  the  public  health  law,  as
 added by chapter 485 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Every  physician  or  authorized practitioner shall give notice of
 elevated lead levels [as specified by the commissioner pursuant to regu-
 lation,] OF FIVE MICROGRAMS OF LEAD PER DECILITER OF WHOLE BLOOD to  the
 health  officer  of  the  health  district  wherein the patient resides,
 except as otherwise provided.
   § 5. Section 1373 of the public health law is amended by adding a  new
 subdivision 6 to read as follows:
   6.  (A)  THE  COMMISSIONER  OR  THEIR REPRESENTATIVE SHALL REQUIRE THE
 JURISDICTIONAL LOCAL OR STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT TO INVESTIGATE CASES  OF
 ELEVATED  LEAD LEVELS, AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION SIX OF SECTION THIRTEEN
 HUNDRED SEVENTY OF THIS TITLE, THAT ARE  REPORTED  BY  PHYSICIANS  TO  A
 LOCAL  OR  STATE  HEALTH  OFFICER  PURSUANT  TO SECTION THIRTEEN HUNDRED
 SEVENTY-E OF THIS TITLE.
   (B) A JURISDICTIONAL LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT  MAY  REQUEST  ASSISTANCE
 FROM  THE  STATE  DEPARTMENT  OF HEALTH TO INVESTIGATE CASES OF ELEVATED
 LEAD LEVELS IF SUCH JURISDICTIONAL LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT DOES NOT HAVE
 THE CAPACITY AND/OR RESOURCES TO  INVESTIGATE  SUCH  CASES  AS  REQUIRED
 PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
   (C)  FOR  THE  PURPOSES  OF THIS SUBDIVISION, "JURISDICTIONAL LOCAL OR
 STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT" SHALL MEAN THE LOCAL OR STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT
 OF THE LOCAL OR STATE HEALTH  OFFICER  WHOM  A  PHYSICIAN  HAS  REPORTED
 ELEVATED  LEAD  LEVELS TO PURSUANT TO SECTION THIRTEEN HUNDRED SEVENTY-E
 OF THIS TITLE.
   § 6. Subsection (i) of section 3216 of the insurance law is amended by
 adding a new paragraph 35 to read as follows:
   (35) EVERY INSURER ISSUING A POLICY OF ACCIDENT AND  HEALTH  INSURANCE
 FOR  DELIVERY  IN  THIS  STATE  SHALL PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR SCREENING AND
 BLOOD TESTS OF CHILDREN FOR ELEVATED LEAD LEVELS. FOR  THE  PURPOSES  OF
 THIS  PARAGRAPH,  "ELEVATED  LEAD LEVELS" SHALL HAVE THE SAME MEANING AS
 SET FORTH IN SUBDIVISION SIX OF SECTION THIRTEEN HUNDRED SEVENTY OF  THE
 PUBLIC HEALTH LAW.
   § 7. Subsection (k) of section 3221 of the insurance law is amended by
 adding a new paragraph 22 to read as follows:
   (22) EVERY GROUP OR BLANKET POLICY DELIVERED OR ISSUED FOR DELIVERY IN
 THIS  STATE  WHICH PROVIDES HOSPITAL, SURGICAL OR MEDICAL COVERAGE SHALL
 PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR SCREENING AND BLOOD TESTS OF CHILDREN FOR  ELEVATED
 LEAD  LEVELS. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PARAGRAPH, "ELEVATED LEAD LEVELS"
 SHALL HAVE THE SAME MEANING AS SET FORTH IN SUBDIVISION SIX  OF  SECTION
 THIRTEEN HUNDRED SEVENTY OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW.
   §  8.  Section  4303  of  the insurance law is amended by adding a new
 subsection (ss) to read as follows:
   (SS) EVERY MEDICAL EXPENSE  INDEMNITY  CORPORATION,  HOSPITAL  SERVICE
 CORPORATION  AND  HEALTH SERVICE CORPORATION WHICH PROVIDES COVERAGE FOR
 MEDICAL, SURGICAL OR MAJOR  MEDICAL  CARE  SHALL  PROVIDE  COVERAGE  FOR

 S. 9131                             3
 
 SCREENING  AND BLOOD TESTS OF CHILDREN FOR ELEVATED LEAD LEVELS. FOR THE
 PURPOSES OF THIS PARAGRAPH, "ELEVATED LEAD LEVELS" SHALL HAVE  THE  SAME
 MEANING  AS  SET  FORTH  IN  SUBDIVISION SIX OF SECTION THIRTEEN HUNDRED
 SEVENTY OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW.
   §  9.  Subdivision  2  of  section 365-a of the social services law is
 amended by adding a new paragraph (ff) to read as follows:
   (FF) SCREENING AND BLOOD TESTS OF CHILDREN FOR ELEVATED  LEAD  LEVELS.
 FOR  THE  PURPOSES OF THIS PARAGRAPH, ELEVATED LEAD LEVELS MEANS A BLOOD
 LEAD LEVEL GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO FIVE MICROGRAMS OF LEAD PER  DECILI-
 TER OF WHOLE BLOOD.
   § 10. Subdivision 4 of section 14 of the public housing law is amended
 by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
   (E)  THE  COMMISSIONER, THEIR COUNSEL OR ANY OTHER OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE
 OF THE DIVISION SPECIALLY DESIGNATED BY THE COMMISSIONER  SHALL  PROMUL-
 GATE RULES, REGULATIONS AND POLICIES WHICH:
   (I)  SET  THE  ACTION  LEVEL  FOR  LEAD TO FIVE MICROGRAMS OF LEAD PER
 DECILITER OF WHOLE BLOOD WHEN IDENTIFYING ELEVATED BLOOD LEAD LEVELS  OF
 CHILDREN OCCUPYING A DWELLING IN PUBLIC HOUSING; AND
   (II)  REQUIRE PROJECTS TO FOLLOW THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
 URBAN DEVELOPMENT'S GUIDANCE ON LEAD SAFE  HOUSING  RULE  PERTAINING  TO
 ELEVATED  BLOOD  LEVELS  FOR THE PUBLIC HOUSING, HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER,
 AND PROJECT-BASED VOUCHER PROGRAMS.
   § 11. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S9131

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

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co-Sponsors

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Gustavo Rivera

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Actions

co-Sponsors

Luis R. Sepúlveda

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S9131 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments