BILL NUMBER: S1914
SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to authorizing the
payment of medical assistance for the provision of kidney transplants
for certain residents of New York
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill amends the Social Services Law to expand available public
medical assistance for kidney transplantation to include undocumented
persons in New York. Where current law provides that public assistance
would cover routine dialysis treatment for undocumented persons who
experience chronic renal ailments, both fiscal and moral reasons justify
expanding coverage to also include kidney transplants.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Section 365-a of the Social Services Law, as it relates
to character and adequacy of assistance, under Title 11: Medical
Assistance for Needy Persons, by adding a new subdivision 11 to expand
Medicaid for kidney transplantation to include coverage for undocumented
persons in New York who have received emergency renal dialysis for no
less than two consecutive years. Additionally, this section allows the
Commissioner of Health to develop guidelines (e.g. a database or
receipt system) to verify the two-year qualification period.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, in New York, public financial assistance is made available to
undocumented persons seeking emergency medical care. Falling under this
rubric, undocumented persons experiencing end-stage renal failure often
undergo dialysis treatment on a biweekly basis at emergency facilities
across the State. To date, no one state provides public after-transplan-
tation care to undocumented immigrants. New York has an opportunity to
be a national leader on this issue as the largest state to expand this
coverage. Beyond the moral reality that a kidney patient's quality of
life improves markedly following a transplant with the elimination of
that patient's need for frequent dialysis treatments, the cost savings
associated with this legislation is significant. According to OHIP,
concurrent New York State spent $47,373,375.14 associated with emergency
dialysis services.
Whereas dialysis patients remain beholden to this expensive treatment
for the remainder of their lives, kidney transplantation halts this
recurring expenditure by the State. While the upfront cost of a trans-
plant is higher than the annual cost of dialysis, the State is poised to
save money over time as the annual fees associated with post-transplant
medication are drastically lower than the price tag of dialysis.
Further, to limit the State's public aid to persons residing in New
York, this legislation requires an eligible person to demonstrate that
they have already undergone two years of dialysis treatment covered by
the State's existing public assistance programs.
Finally, in noting that New York ranks last out of the fifty states in
terms of per capita registered organ donors, it is plausible to believe
that expanding transplantation care to undocumented persons would
encourage more donor enrollment in underserved communities. Pointedly,
a family member may be more likely to enroll as a donor in a scenario
where all relatives in need of a kidney transplant are able to obtain
one within New York State.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2015-2016: S6056.A Peralta/A9283 Maya
2018-2017: S333 Peralta/No Same-as
2019-2020: S5722 / A7545 Ortiz
2021-2022: S2545 / No Same-as
2023-2024: S3577 Rivera / A6735 Gonzalez-Rojas
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first day of January next succeeding
the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, however, that
effective immediately, the addition, amendment. and/or repeal of any
rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
effective date is authorized and directed to be made and completed on or
before the effective date.

Statutes affected:
S1914: 365-a social services law