BILL NUMBER: S9049
SPONSOR: SCARCELLA-SPANTON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to the hospital-home
care-physician collaboration program
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Amends Public Health Law Section 2805-X, Subdivision 3 by added two new
sections that align with the State Administrative Procedures Act to
require public notification and opportunity to comment when an applica-
tion I made to the Department of Health for the regulatory waiver, and
to ensure that any such application must still meet applicable certif-
icate of need requirements.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York's Certificate of Need (CON) process governs establishment,
construction; renovation and major medical equipment acquisitions of
health care facilities, such as hospital, nursing homes, home care agen-
cies, diagnostic and treatment centers, and hospices. The objectives of
the CON process are to promote delivery of high-quality health care and
ensure that services are aligned with community need.
Section 2805-X of the Public Health Law is intended to establish a
framework to support voluntary initiatives that improve patient care
access and management. The law's purpose is to facilitate innovation in
hospitals, home care agencies, and physician collaboration. However,
the law, as currently written, provides an unintended opportunity for
collaborations to avoid the CON process. The law was never intended to
be used as a means to avoid the CON process, and without amendment
deprives existing facilities of due process, deprives health care
consumers of service aligned with community need, creates health care
consumers of services aligned with community need, creates health care
disparities and exacerbates issues involving social determinants of
health that the CON process was designed to prevent.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This legislation will take effect immediately.