BILL NUMBER: S3356A
SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the lab
services accessibility act
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 provides the short title of this act to be known as the "Lab
Services Accessibility Act."
Section 2 amends section 585 of the Public Health Law by creating a new
definition of "health services facilitator" to include persons or enti-
ties that facilitate the provision of health or health-related services,
including but not limited to, any person or entity who participates in
the initiation, coordination, payment, delivery, or follow-up of health
or health-related services. It also creates a definition of a public
health program including but not limited to situations where the demand
for testing may be increased.
Section 3 amends subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 586 of the Public
Health Law. Subdivision 2 is amended to add paragraph j, which exempts
nonprofit clinics, other health care providers, or health services faci-
litators whose purpose is the promotion of public health from Section
586 subdivision 1 of the Public Health Law. This would exempt health
services facilitators who ordered or facilitated clinical laboratory
services, including the testing and analysis of self-collected samples
in a non-healthcare setting from the current requirement that the
patient be the payor for such services. Subdivision 3 changes the enti-
ty responsible for promulgating rules and regulations governing the
operation of clinical laboratories from the Public Health and Health
Planning Council (PHHPC) to the Department of Health (DOH).
Section 4 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Diseases such as HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and other sexually
transmitted infections remain serious public health threats in New York,
and without readily available testing, vulnerable communities, such as
the LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, and lower income New Yorkers
face detrimental health consequences.
New York's current lab services billing law requires that clinical labo-
ratories directly bill and receive payment from the recipients of their
lab services with limited exceptions. The law is intended to protect
recipients of lab services from increased prices due to fee-splitting by
physicians with clinical laboratories, whereby physicians would markup
patient lab services bills and pass the increased price onto patients.
However, the current law extends beyond its consumer protection purpose
by inadvertently stifling public health partnerships between clinical
laboratories and healthcare nonprofit organizations as well as prevent-
ing pharmacies and others from offering patients self-collected testing
kits.
Self-collected testing typically involves the collection of small
biological samples (such as saliva, urine, or blood) that are sent to a
laboratory to be analyzed for the presence of specific markers or indi-
cators of disease. Self-collecting testing provides those who face
geographic and financial barriers, experience social stigma and pres-
sure, or have privacy concerns about testing in a medical facility with
the diagnostic care they need. Ultimately, this legislation would
further social equity and accessibility in the clinical laboratory
services arena and bolster New York's public health surveillance
systems.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S9344/A10322 Clark
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Effective immediately.

Statutes affected:
S3356: 585 public health law
S3356A: 585 public health law