Senate Bill S524

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S524

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to hepatitis C
screening testing

 
PURPOSE:

This bill will expand eligibility requirements for Hepatitis C screen-
ing.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 2171 of the public health law to expand cover-
age to include individuals born between the years of nineteen hundred
eight and two thousand to be eligible to receive hepatitis C screening
and testing from a general hospital, outpatient department, licensed
diagnostic and treatment center, or directly from a physician, physi-
cian's assistant or nurse practitioner.

              

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Hepatitis C (HCV) is a viral infection known to cause liver inflamma-
tion, which may lead to liver damage, cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver
failure, and death. The virus can cause a short-term (acute) illness
characterized by fever, nausea, abdominal pain, malaise, and jaundice;
however, these acute infections often do not cause any symptoms.
Nationally, the CDC estimates that 2.4 million Americans are infected
with HCV, with half of the carriers unaware of their status.

According to the 2021 New York State Department of Health Hepatitis B
and C Annual Report, there were 4,249 cases of Hepatitis C reported in
New York State, not including New York City. The largest number of cases
were seen in people between the ages of 25-39, accounting for 41.3% of
the cases. The majority of HCV diagnosis among young adults is identi-
fied as a direct result of the current opioid and intravenous drug use
crisis. The most common causes of HCV in 2021 were injection and non-in-
jection drug use, previous history of incarceration, and having close
contact with a person with HCV.

Diagnostic testing is a critical tool utilized to identify the presence
of disease within an individual and is proven to increase participation
rates among those diagnosed with HCV in active treatment. Therefore, by
virtue of the increased prevalence of opioid use and subsequent HCV
diagnosis among young adults between the ages of 20-40, it is critical
to mandate this population be presented with the opportunity for screen-
ing and testing services, while engaged in otherwise routine medical
appointments.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-2020: S7328/No Same-As

2021-2022: S2124/A9633 Zebrowski

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.