S 5969 New York Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Creates the substance use disorder treatment bill of rights to be posted in a conspicuous place in all treatment facilities

S 5969 requires all substance use disorder treatment facilities to post a "treatment bill of rights" in visible locations and provide a copy to every patient at admission. This bill of rights outlines 10 specific patient rights, including the right to participate in treatment planning, receive clear explanations of services, maintain privacy, and report grievances. It directly affects patients receiving treatment and facility staff, who must also receive copies of the document. The law mandates these postings and distributions without altering existing treatment standards, focusing solely on transparency and patient awareness.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Mar 4, 2025 Last action Jun 5, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

S5969 S5969A · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill's procedural status changed from a newly introduced draft to a version that has been amended, reprinted, and recommitted to the committee for further review. Substantively, the patient rights section was modified to explicitly state that patients cannot be coerced into treatment and updated the mutual respect clause to include providers, ensuring a two-way expectation of courteous behavior.
REQUIREMENT

Added explicit language stating that patients cannot be coerced into treatment, reinforcing the right to object or terminate care unless a court order dictates otherwise.

Revised the mutual respect clause to require that both patients and providers treat each other in a courteous and fair manner, broadening the obligation beyond just staff behavior.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill's procedural history to reflect that it has been amended and recommitted to the committee, and changed the bill number designation from 5969 to 5969-A.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
12
Key actions
2
Committee
4
Amendments
2
Jun 5, 2026
Committee
COMMITTED TO RULES
upper
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
PRINT NUMBER 5969A
upper
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS
upper
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
REFERRED TO ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS
upper
Jun 13, 2025
Committee
COMMITTED TO RULES
upper
Mar 4, 2025
Committee
REFERRED TO ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS
upper
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors