BILL NUMBER: S3077

SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring anti-
bias training for every medical student, medical resident and physician
assistant student in the state

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To improve health care outcomes and care through educating medical
students about implicit and explicit biases.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Article 2 of the public health law by adding a new
Title 3-A, Anti-Bias Training, which contains a new Section 245, titled:
Training in bias awareness and elimination procedures.

Section 245 Subdivision A establishes the mandate that all medical
              

students, medical residents, and physician assistant students in New
York State take part in orientation programs that have been approved by
the New York State Department of Health for awareness of and the elimi-
nation practices for both implicit and explicit biases.

Subdivision B states that the individual must provide documentation of
having completed the training.

Subdivision C states that the New York State Department of Health should
consult with the New York State Division of Human Rights and the New
York State Board of Medicine to develop guidelines for the training.

Subdivision D states that a year after the effective date of the law,
the New York State Department of Health must send a report to the Gover-
nor and the New York State Legislature on the progress of these train-
ings.

Section 2 establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In recent years, the health care community has shifted its focus to
further address health inequity and its impact on individuals from
traditionally marginalized communities, including people of color,
people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning,
and/or gender non-conforming (LGBTQ/TGNC), and those who are female.
Research has shown that people have implicit attitudes towards identify-
ing attributes, including race, gender, age, disability, and sexual
orientation, and several general patterns of bias have repeatedly been
shown in research, such as socially-dominant groups often having implic-
it and sometimes explicit bias to the detriment of traditionally under-
represented groups. Research provides us information that illustrates
these inequities, like:

   -Black, non-Latina women are the most likely to experience maternal
mortality or maternal morbidity


   -According to the Brookings Institution, childbirth-related deaths
disproportionately affect Black women, regardless of their income or
education
   -National surveys of individuals who are transgender reveal that
one-third of those who saw a health care provider had at least one nega-
tive experience related to being transgender, and nearly one-quarter
reported that they did not seek the health care they needed due to fear
of being mistreated as a transgender person
   -According to the Gay Men's Health Crisis, despite the declining rate
of new infections per year, New York leads the nation in the number of
new HIV cases, and 20% of people do not know they are infected
   -In 2016, 77 percent of new HIV diagnoses and AIDS-related deaths in
NYC were among African Americans and Hispanic Americans

Currently, not all medical students in the state of New York receive
implicit bias training, which could hamper the goal of health equity for
all. This bill mandates that all medical students in New York State must
take part in trainings regarding implicit and explicit bias, so that
they can be aware of and eliminate practices for both implicit and
explicit bias. It is critical to have well-trained and culturally compe-
tent providers who are educated about implicit bias to ensure the best
possible treatment of all individuals, and to ensure medical outcomes
are not skewed because of bias, whether implicit or explicit.

 
RACIAL JUSTICE IMPACT:  This bill would enhance racial justice as
there are significant racial disparities in health care, and these
disparities result in more negative health outcomes for people of color
as compared with white people. This legislation will help to reduce
these disparities and improve health outcomes by educating health care
providers on their biases and how these might impact racial disparities
that exist.

 
GENDER JUSTICE IMPACT:  This bill would enhance gender justice by
improving bias awareness in medical students, whether said implicit and
explicit biases impact women, people of color, the LGBTQ community,
and/or other vulnerable members of our communities.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

ASSEMBLY:
A.8741 of 2019:
11/25/19 referred to health
01/08/20 referred to health

SENATE:
S. 6889 of 2019
12/06/19 referred to rules
01/08/20 referred to health

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect 180 days after enactment.