BILL NUMBER: S5480

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
establishing the infant recovery centers pilot program; and providing
for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

 
PURPOSE:

To require the Department of Health in conjunction with the Office of
Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services to establish a pilot program of
infant recovery centers for infants experiencing opioid or other drug
withdrawal symptoms.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Amends section 2500 of the Public Health law to direct the
Department of Health to establish a pilot program of infant recovery,
centers for infants experiencing drug withdrawal symptoms. The bill also
directs the Department to report to the Legislature on the program and
pilots.
              

Section 2. Provides an immediate effective date and has the program
sunset in four years so that it can be evaluated and updated if neces-
sary.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

One aspect of the nation's opioid abuse is, the number of babies born
with severe withdrawal symptoms. Hospitals are scrambling to find ways
to care for the burgeoning population of drug addicted newborns. The
result is symptoms consistent with withdrawal, acute toxicity or
sustained signs consistent with a lasting drug effect. This is known as
neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). These babies require specialized
care and are often treated in new born intensive care units with an
estimated cost of $66,700 per infant. Hospital diversion programs for
these infants can provide less costly and more focused care for newborns
and their parents.

Nationwide, it is estimated the number of pregnant woman using heroin,
prescription opioids or addiction treatment medications either methadone
or buprenorphine has increased fivefold since 2000. This act directs the
Department of Health, in consultation with the Office of Alcoholism and
Substance Abuse Services, 'to establish pilot infant recovery centers
outside of the hospital where newborns can withdraw and recover from NAS
and other symptoms of addiction as as it is safe for them to leave the
hospital. At the recovery centers, infants would receive the same kind
of medical treatment for their withdrawal symptoms as they would in the
hospital while simultaneously being provided a better, cost efficient
help for newborns through the painful, weeks long process of drug with-
drawal.

In Huntington, West Virginia, it was reported that in 2010, babies born
to mothers using heroin were filling up so many beds in the newborn
intensive care unit at the city's main hospital that little space was
left for babies with other life-threatening conditions.  As a result, by
2012, Lily's Place, an infant recovery center outside of the hospital
was created where the newborns could be taken as soon as it was safe for
them to leave the hospital.
Lily's Place, staffed by the same doctor and team of nurses who treat
drug exposed babies in those hospital, plus a social worker and adminis-
trative staff, is a transitional care center where parents can visit
their babies throughout the day and occasionally stay overnight before
taking them home. Lily's Place has become a model for communities in the
rest of the country that are experiencing the same kind of growth in
drug exposed newborns as Huntington. The cost of caring for a drug
exposed newborn in a hospital is nearly 20 times the cost of hospital
care for a healthy infant, whereas the cost of caring for newborns at
Lily's Place is one-fifth the daily rate of a hospital intensive care
unit.

As part of the New York State budget adopted in April 2018, the Senate
added $350,000 to support up to four infant recovery centers.  This
legislation supports that appropriation and insurers New York moves
forward.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S 2815 passed senate in 2017 and appropriation added for such a program
as part of the enacted 2018-19 budget

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Savings to state as addicted infants receive needed care in less costly
setting than hospitals, and mothers receive support that can help foster
healthy babies and families. Funding was added by the Senate to the
enacted budget in 2018-19 for $350 million to establish up to 4 infant
recovery programs.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately, and shall expire and be deemed
repealed 4 years after such date.