Senate Bill S9598

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9598

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to medical evalu-
ations for assisted living eligibility

 
PURPOSE:

To allow assisted living program (ALP) medical evaluations to be signed
by a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subdivision 2 of section 461-1 of the social services
law to allow medical evaluations, used to assess whether the program can
appropriately care for an individual, to be signed by either a physi-
cian, physician assistant, or a nurse practitioner.

Section 2 sets forth the effective date.

              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Currently, medical evaluations used to determine if an individual's
health and safety needs can be met in an adult care facility - including
assisted living residences, adult homes, and enriched housing programs -
can be signed by either a physician, a physician assistant, or a nurse
practitioner, with the exception of the Medicaid-funded assisted living
program (ALP).

The ALP serves individuals who are medically eligible for nursing home
care in a less intensive setting. Services include room and board,
personal care, supervision, housekeeping, nursing, physical therapy,
occupational therapy, speech therapy, and adult day health care, among
others. Before an operator admits an individual to an ALP, they need to
assess that the program can properly meet the needs of the resident,
which is done through a medical evaluation. While not a requirement in
other types of adult care facilities serving seniors with similar needs
and characteristics, the Department of Health continues to mandate a
physician's signature in order for the ALP medical evaluation form to be
considered "complete."

Adult care facilities, including those participating in the ALP, do not
employ physicians, so it can be very difficult to find doctors to
complete and sign these forms in a timely manner, especially given the
existing health care workforce shortage. This burdensome requirement
effectively delays services for low income, vulnerable seniors who need
ALP services, and increases costs for providers.

Expanding the types of healthcare professionals who can sign these eval-
uations is a commonsense measure that would go a long way in facilitat-
ing and expediting access to care and in lowering costs for New York
State seniors and the facilities that serve them.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None noted.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately