NY State Senate Bill 2019-S8403

Senate Bill S8403

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to eligibility for medical assistance for personal care services for persons with traumatic brain injury, developmental disability, cognitive impairments, blindness or visual impairment

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jul 22, 2020	referred to ways and means delivered to assembly passed senate ordered to third reading cal.905
Jul 20, 2020	reported and committed to rules
May 22, 2020	referred to health

Votes

- Jul 22, 2020 - Floor Vote
  S8403
  
  60
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Floor Vote: Jul 22, 2020
      
      aye (60)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Akshar
      
      Amedore
      
      Bailey
      
      Benjamin
      
      Biaggi
      
      Borrello
      
      Boyle
      
      Breslin
      
      Brooks
      
      Carlucci
      
      Comrie
      
      Felder
      
      Funke
      
      Gallivan
      
      Gaughran
      
      Gianaris
      
      Gounardes
      
      Griffo
      
      Harckham
      
      Helming
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Jackson
      
      Jordan
      
      Kaminsky
      
      Kaplan
      
      Kavanagh
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Little
      
      Liu
      
      Martinez
      
      May
      
      Mayer
      
      Metzger
      
      Montgomery
      
      Myrie
      
      O'Mara
      
      Ortt
      
      Parker
      
      Persaud
      
      Ramos
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Ritchie
      
      Rivera
      
      Robach
      
      Salazar
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Savino
      
      Sepúlveda
      
      Serino
      
      Serrano
      
      Seward
      
      Skoufis
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Tedisco
      
      Thomas
  Jul 22, 2020 - Rules Committee Vote
  S8403
  
  16
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  3
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Rules Committee Vote: Jul 22, 2020
      
      aye (16)
      
      Benjamin
      
      Breslin
      
      Comrie
      
      Gianaris
      
      Griffo
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      Lanza
      
      Little
      
      Liu
      
      Martinez
      
      Ortt
      
      Parker
      
      Savino
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      aye wr (3)
      
      LaValle
      
      Robach
      
      Seward
  Jul 20, 2020 - Health Committee Vote
  S8403
  
  12
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  2
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  1
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Health Committee Vote: Jul 20, 2020
      
      aye (12)
      
      Benjamin
      
      Biaggi
      
      Carlucci
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Kaminsky
      
      Metzger
      
      Montgomery
      
      Ortt
      
      Ritchie
      
      Rivera
      
      Salazar
      
      Stavisky
      
      aye wr (2)
      
      Gallivan
      
      Little
      
      absent (1)
      
      Jacobs

co-Sponsors

View additional co-sponsors

2019-S8403 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10486
Current Committee:: Assembly Ways And Means
Law Section:: Social Services Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§365-a & 365-f, Soc Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S3055, A4309
2023-2024: S5470

2019-S8403 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides eligibility for medical assistance for personal care services for persons with traumatic brain injury, developmental disability, cognitive impairments, blindness or visual impairment.

2019-S8403 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8403

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to eligibility for
medical assistance for personal care services for persons with traumatic
brain injury, cognitive impairments, developmental disabilities, blind-
ness, or  visual impairment

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

to clarify that provisions protecting eligibility for personal care at
home, afforded to persons with dementia or Alzheimer's in recently
enacted legislation, extends as well to persons with traumatic brain
injury, cognitive impairments, developmental disabilities, blindness or
visual impairment.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

The bill amends Social Services Law §§ 365-a and 365-f. The law, enacted

as part of the April 2020 budget, now says that a person may receive
Medicaid-funded personal care it the person requires "limited assistance
with physical maneuvering with three or more activities of daily
living" (ADLs) but that if the person has dementia or Alzheimer's, the
person only requires assistance with two or more ADLs to qualify for
Medicaid personal care. This bill extends that provision to persons with
traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairments, developmental disabili-
ties, blindness, or visual impairment.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

"Activities of daily living" are understood to be eating, bathing,
getting dressed, toileting, mobility, transferring from a laying or
sitting position to standing, and continence care.  Until now, whenever
a Medicaid eligible person has been assessed as requiring assistance
with any of these routine functions, Medicaid provided at least "level-
one" personal care. The actual number of hours of this basic level of
service was determined by an individual assessment. It was often not
even a daily visit, usually 8 hours a week. However, this was enough
support to enable persons to stay in their homes and communities, avoid-
ing accidents, injury, deteriorated health conditions, and institution-
alization.

The hastily enacted 2020-21 budget limits access to Medicaid personal
care to only those who require physical assistance with 3 or more of
these ADLs. Only in the case of dementia or Alzheimer's, could an appli-
cant avoid the near certain diminishing of their health, safety, and
ability to remain at home before Medicaid would come to their aid.

The new law sensibly applies a lower threshold for people with dementia
or Alzheimer's. That lower threshold should similarly apply to patients
with traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairments, developmental disa-
bilities, blindness, or visual impairment.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.   
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:.
October 1, 2020, or at the same time as the amendments to Social
Services Law which are modified by the legislation.

2019-S8403 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8403
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 22, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to eligibility  for
   medical  assistance  for personal care services for persons with trau-
   matic brain injury, cognitive impairments, developmental disabilities,
   blindness, or  visual impairment

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subparagraph  (v)  of  paragraph  (e) of subdivision 2 of
 section 365-a of the social services law, as added  by  section  2-a  of
 part  MM  of  chapter  56  of  the  laws  of 2020, is amended to read as
 follows:
   (v) subject to the availability of  federal  financial  participation,
 personal  care  services other than personal emergency response services
 available pursuant to this paragraph shall be available only to individ-
 uals assessed as needing  at  least  limited  assistance  with  physical
 maneuvering  with more than two activities of daily living, or for indi-
 viduals with a dementia or Alzheimer's diagnosis, TRAUMATIC BRAIN  INJU-
 RY, COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY, BLINDNESS, OR VISUAL
 IMPAIRMENT,  assessed as needing at least supervision with more than one
 activity of  daily  living,  as  defined  and  determined  by  using  an
 evidenced  based validated assessment instrument approved by the commis-
 sioner and in accordance with regulations  of  the  department  and  any
 applicable  state  and  federal  laws  by  an  independent assessor. The
 provisions of this subparagraph shall  only  apply  to  individuals  who
 receive  an  initial authorization for such services on or after October
 first, two thousand twenty;
   § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section  365-f  of  the  social
 services  law,  as  amended by section 3 of part MM of chapter 56 of the
 laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   (c) has been determined by the social services district,  pursuant  to
 an assessment of the person's appropriateness for the program, conducted
 with an appropriate long term home health care program, a certified home
 health  agency, or an AIDS home care program or pursuant to the personal
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16428-02-0

 S. 8403                             2
 
 care program, as being in need of home care  services  or  private  duty
 nursing  and as needing at least limited assistance with physical maneu-
 vering with more than two activities of daily  living,  or  for  persons
 with a dementia or Alzheimer's diagnosis, TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, COGNI-
 TIVE  IMPAIRMENT, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY, BLINDNESS, OR VISUAL IMPAIR-
 MENT, ASSESSED as needing at least supervision with more than one activ-
 ity of daily living, provided that the provisions related to  activities
 of  daily  living  in  this  paragraph  shall  only apply to persons who
 initially seek eligibility for the program on or  after  October  first,
 two  thousand  twenty,  and  who is able and willing or has a designated
 representative, including a legal guardian  able  and  willing  to  make
 informed  choices,  or  a designated relative or other adult who is able
 and willing to assist in making informed choices, as  to  the  type  and
 quality of services, including but not limited to such services as nurs-
 ing care, personal care, transportation and respite services; and
   §  3.  This  act  shall take effect October 1, 2020; provided however,
 that if part MM of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020 shall not  have  taken
 effect  on  or  before  such  date then sections one and two of this act
 shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as such  chap-
 ter of the laws of 2020 takes effect.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.