Establishes a statewide advance care planning public awareness campaign and a community based advance care planning outreach grant program to fund not-for-profit community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, immigrant-serving organizations, senior-serving agencies, housing-based organizations, and other trusted community partners to conduct advance care planning education, outreach, and navigation.
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
10477
I N A S S E M B L Y
March 6, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRUZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the statewide
advance care planning public awareness campaign and to establish a
community-based advance care planning outreach grant program; and
making an appropriation therefore
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the "Serious Illness Care Equity Act".
§ 2. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds that
advance care planning is essential to ensuring that individuals with
serious illness receive care aligned with their values, preferences, and
goals. Although chapter 406 of the laws of 2022 authorized a statewide
advance care planning public awareness campaign, such a campaign has
neither been funded nor implemented. The purpose of this act is to oper-
ationalize that authority, expand equitable access to advance care plan-
ning education, and establish a community-based outreach grant program
to address persistent racial, cultural, and linguistic disparities.
§ 3. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 207 of the public
health law, as amended by chapter 406 of the laws of 2022, is amended
and a new paragraph (e-1) is added to read as follows:
(e) (I) The commissioner shall establish a statewide advance care
planning campaign to:
[(i)] (1) promote public awareness of hospice and palliative care
services[;], and palliative care options for patients with a terminal
illness or condition;
[(ii)] (2) inform the public of the importance of advance care plan-
ning and the individual's right to direct and participate in health care
decisions affecting the individual;
[(iii)] (3) educate individuals on the tools available to ensure their
health care decisions are honored; and
[(iv)] (4) HIGHLIGHT the need and importance for consumers and
patients to have an advance directive, particularly a health care proxy,
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
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