NY State Senate Bill 2023-S5047

Senate Bill S5047

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Provides for notification to hospital patients upon intake of reports of hospital-acquired infections

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health 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

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to health
Feb 22, 2023	referred to health

2023-S5047 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §2819, Pub Health L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S496
2011-2012: S5283
2013-2014: S2143
2015-2016: S4572
2017-2018: S6193
2019-2020: S3276
2021-2022: S6179

2023-S5047 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for notification to hospital patients upon intake of reports of hospital-acquired infections.

2023-S5047 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5047

SPONSOR: LANZA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to notifying hospital
patients upon intake of reports of hospital-acquired infections

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL::

The purpose of the bill is to enact legislation to recognize and codify
the distinction between a traditional legal services insurance policy
and a modern non-indemnity prepaid legal service plan to better serve
New Yorkers who utilize such plans.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::

Section 1 amends Article 11, Section 1113(29) of the Insurance Law to
provide as follows:

(29) "Legal services insurance" means insurance that pays or reimburses
for specified legal services or specified legal expenses, in consider-

ation of a specified payment, regardless of whether the payment is made
by the beneficiaries individually or by a third person on their behalf.
"Legal services insurance" does not include the furnishing of legal
assistance to members, or their dependents, by an organization, in which
the organization contracts directly with independent attorneys for the
provision of legal services, where the organization pays the independent
attorney only an adMinistrative fee and the independent attorney
receives no additional payment or reimbursement from the organization
for specified legal services or specified legal expenses.

 
JUSTIFICATION::

Unlike traditional legal services insurance policies, non-indemnity
prepaid legal service plans provide customers ("members") with access to
an attorney that has agreed to abide by a schedule of free and
discounted services in return for a membership fee.Non-indemnity prepaid
legal plans do not pay or reimburse members for the rendering of specif-
ic legal services.

These plans should not be regulated like traditional insurance policies.
This bill modifies the current definition of "legal services insurance."
The new proposed definition would remove non-indemnity prepaid legal
service plans from insurance regulation while retaining regulation of
traditional legal service insurance policies. At present, over 30 states
no longer regulate non-indemnity prepaid service legal plans.

This small revision will align New York law with the majority of states,
including Illinois and California, that do not regulate non-indemnity
prepaid legal service plans and is also consistent with the Access to
Justice initiative in New York and other states across the country. New
York's Permanent Commission on Access to Justice was established in 2015
and continues the efforts of the original Task Force to Expand Access to
Civil Legal Services in New York, established in 2010, to provide
increased access to legal counsel to New York residents.

This revision is consistent with the Overview on the New York Permanent
Commission on Access to Justice website which states, "For the Judici-
ary, there can be no higher priority than ensuring meaningful access to
justice for all persons. The Permanent Commission on Acdess to Justice
plays a critical role in our institutional efforts to promote the fair
and effective delivery of justice to all New Yorkers regardless of
economic status."

Non-indemnity prepaid legal service plans provide affordable access to
New York residents for legal services in areas including, but not limit-
ed to, housing (foreclosure, landlord tenant disputes), family

(child custody), consumer rights (creditor/debtor disputes, garnish-
ments), and unemployment benefits. Access to legal services for individ-
uals, families, and businesses has never been more important. The
proposed amendment will result in lower costs and allow greater flexi-
bility in the pricing and the delivery of legal services to New York
residents similar to that which is already available in the majority of
other States in the country.

Members receive no reimbursement or indemnification under non-indemnity
prepaid legal service plans. Members pay a monthly fee for their plan
with specific legal services that are provided directly by the provider
law firm.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS::

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE::

This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

2023-S5047 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5047
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 22, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  LANZA  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to notifying hospital
   patients upon intake of reports of hospital-acquired infections
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 2819 of the public health law is amended by adding
 a new subdivision 6-a to read as follows:
   6-A. NO LATER THAN ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS AFTER THE ISSUANCE  OF  THE
 REPORTS  REQUIRED  PURSUANT  TO  SUBPARAGRAPH  (III) OF PARAGRAPH (C) OF
 SUBDIVISION FIVE  OF  THIS  SECTION,  EACH  GENERAL  HOSPITAL  SHALL  BE
 REQUIRED  TO  NOTIFY  PATIENTS  AS A COMPONENT OF PREBOOKING, INTAKE AND
 REGISTRATION OF THE HOSPITAL-ACQUIRED INFECTIONS, THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED
 TO BE REPORTED TO THE DEPARTMENT PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION, THAT OCCURRED
 IN THE HOSPITAL FOR THE PRIOR THIRTY DAY PERIOD. SUCH NOTIFICATION SHALL
 BE UPDATED ON A DAILY  BASIS  AND  SHALL  BE  ACCOMPLISHED  THROUGH  THE
 CONSPICUOUS  POSTING  OF  SIGNS,  WHICH ARE EASILY UNDERSTANDABLE BY THE
 GENERAL PUBLIC, AND SHALL INCLUDE DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL
 INFORMATION. TO THE DEGREE PRACTICABLE, THE FORMAT OF SUCH  SIGNS  SHALL
 BE CONSISTENT WITH THE FORMAT OF THE SUMMARY TABLE REQUIRED TO BE DEVEL-
 OPED  PURSUANT  TO  SUBDIVISION  SIX  OF  THIS SECTION. UPON REQUEST THE
 HOSPITAL SHALL PROVIDE A PATIENT WITH AN INDIVIDUAL COPY OF THE INFORMA-
 TION CONTAINED ON SUCH SIGN. THE  DEPARTMENT  THROUGH  REGULATION  SHALL
 ESTABLISH PENALTIES APPLICABLE TO THE FIRST AND SUBSEQUENT VIOLATIONS OF
 THE REQUIREMENT IMPOSED BY THIS SUBDIVISION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08755-01-3

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