The New York State Senate

                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  5131

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            February 7, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. ARROYO -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Health

AN ACT to establish a Minority Coordinating Council on Asthmatic Affairs

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
the "Lydia Soto law".
  §  2.  Legislative findings and intent. According to the American Lung
Association, there are over 1.6 million New Yorkers  with  asthma,  with
over  380,000 of them being children. The annual cost of asthma is esti-
mated to be nearly 18 billion dollars. Access to health care for  ethnic
minorities is often hampered by socio-economic disparities, shortages of
primary  care  physicians in minority communities, language and literacy
barriers, and cultural beliefs about the role and  usefulness  of  medi-
cines.  There have emerged clear disparities in the burden and treatment
of asthma in the communities of ethnic minorities. The burden of  asthma
falls  disproportionately  on  the  African-American  and Hispanic popu-
lations, and especially on children of these ethnic  minorities.  There-
fore,  it  is  the  intent  of this legislature to create a coordinating
council to address these issues and to improve awareness and  management
of asthma prevention and treatment for minorities in this state.
  §  3. The commissioner of health shall establish a Minority Coordinat-
ing Council on Asthmatic Affairs. The commissioner shall appoint as many
members as he or she  determines  appropriate.  Such  members  shall  be
representative  of  those regions of the state with significant minority
populations and shall include health care professionals  with  knowledge
and  experience  in  the  prevention  and treatment of asthma and in the
areas of public health care funding. The council shall be  tasked  with:
(a)  assessing the asthma risk factors for the minority citizens of this
state, its counties and regions; (b) identifying the  existing  barriers
to  quality  asthma  treatment and care among minorities; (c) developing

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD09031-01-9

A. 5131                             2

action steps for addressing care issues; and (d) launching a  state-wide
asthma  awareness  campaign  to  educate citizens about the disease, its
symptoms, and the ability to better manage asthma through prevention and
treatment. The council shall deliver an annual report addressing various
asthma program successes, new trends, data and issues surrounding minor-
ity  populations  suffering from asthma to the governor and the legisla-
ture beginning September 1, 2023, and annually thereafter.
  § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.