Healthcare

This bill restores a specific medical futility standard as a basis for Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders under New York's Family Health Care Decisions Act (FHCDA) and surrogate court procedures. It allows two physicians to determine that resuscitation would be medically futile - meaning it would not restore heart or breathing function or would lead to repeated cardiac arrests before death - without requiring court approval for patients lacking decision-making capacity. This directly affects patients in end-of-life situations, particularly those with developmentally disabilities, by providing a clearer pathway for DNR orders when resuscitation is deemed ineffective. The change amends existing laws to reintroduce this criterion, which was removed when the FHCDA replaced New York's former DNR law in 2010.

Prevents discrimination by insurers based on an individual's mental health or substance use disorder; incorporates into law federal enforcement rules set forth in the federal mental health parity and addiction equity act of 2008.

This bill (A 10310) requires residential health care facilities to maintain written agreements with licensed hospice programs. It directly affects facilities caring for residents eligible for hospice services, mandating coordination on key areas like timely referrals, care planning, medication management, and emergency response. The agreements must address six specific coordination points, including roles of facility and hospice staff and after-hours communication. Facilities that fail to comply face enforcement under health law, and the Department of Health will provide implementation guidance and model contracts.

Provides for enrollment of eligible incarcerated persons in the medical assistance for needy persons program; provides for enrollment of incarcerated individuals in other medical assistance programs, where eligible.

Relates to physician charges for missed appointments by patients; bars physicians from charging fees if a patient arrives on time for appointment but was not seen; requires written policy about missed appointments be prominently posted in patient waiting room and included in bills mailed to patients.

This bill simplifies enrollment and recertification for New York Medicaid recipients needing long-term care. It automatically assigns people requiring community-based long-term care for over 120 days to a managed care plan (based on prior care workers, quality, and location), unless they choose otherwise. It also allows certain groups - like those in managed long-term care plans, receiving personal care services, or getting fixed Social Security income - to recertify automatically without resubmitting resource documentation, using "attestation" instead. These changes aim to reduce administrative burdens for both recipients and the state.

Relates to the health, safety and human rights of incarcerated pregnant individuals, incarcerated birthing parents and their children; requires the commissioner of corrections and community supervision to establish rules and regulations relating to conditions in institutions and correctional facilities and the treatment and care of birthing parents in such institutions and facilities.

Requires cultural awareness and competence training for medical professionals, including two hours of course work or training encompassing minority healthcare issues; provides an exemption for certain individuals; requires hospitals and facilities to request documentation of the completion of training from employees and prospective employees.

This bill removes a specific section from the public health law that previously addressed individuals who knew they had a venereal disease. By repealing this section, the legislation stops the state from enforcing any rules or penalties related to that specific requirement. The change takes effect immediately and prevents any new legal actions from being started under the old rule.

Enacts into law major components of legislation necessary to implement the state health and mental hygiene budget for the 2026-2027 state fiscal year; extends provisions requiring the quarterly assessment of known and projected department of health state fund Medicaid expenditures (Part A); extends certain health provisions (Part B); extends certain provisions of law relating to the health care reform act; extends provisions relating to the distribution of pool allocations and graduate medical education; extends provisions relating to health care initiative pool distributions; extends payment provisions for general hospitals; extends provisions relating to assessments on covered lives; extends the personal care services worker recruitment and retention program (Part C); relates to insurance coverage for medical malpractice paid for by funds from the hospital excess liability pool; extends portions of the New York Health Care Reform Act of 1996 (Part D); makes technical corrections to certain provisions of law relating to the New York State Dental Foundation and other provisions of law (Part F); relates to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) (Part G); extends certain provisions relating to payments from the New York state medical indemnity fund (Part I); relates to temporary health care services agencies and protecting individuals engaged to provide health care services by such agencies (Part J); restores capital rate reductions for nursing homes (Part L); limits the amount payable for certain services provided to certain eligible persons who are also beneficiaries under part B of title XVII of the federal social security act or are also qualified Medicare beneficiaries; clarifies Medicaid requirements for biomarker testing (Part M); relates to hospital and nursing home fee-for-service reimbursement rates and reductions in hospital capital rate add-ons (Part O); directs the commissioners of the office of mental health, office for people with developmental disabilities, office of addiction services and supports, office of temporary and disability assistance, office of children and family services and the director of the state office for the aging to establish a state fiscal year 2026-2027 targeted inflationary increase for projecting for the effects of inflation upon rates of payments, contracts, or any other form of reimbursement for certain programs and services; requires such commissioners and director to provide funding to support a 2.7% targeted inflationary increase for such programs and services (Part P); changes "substance use" to substance-related and addictive disorder claims for purposes of the insurance law and public health law (Part R); relates to the effectiveness of provisions of law relating to Medicaid management; removes certain provisions providing for lower minimum amounts of certain state aid for the city of New York than the rest of the state (Part T); extends certain government rates for behavioral services referencing the office of addiction services and supports and relates to the effectiveness thereof (Part U); relates to the effectiveness of certain provisions of law relating to the closure or transfer of a state-operated individualized residential alternative (Part V); extends the care demonstration program (Part W); relates to medical assistance for needy persons age sixty-five or older and who are eligible for medical assistance but for their immigration status through the fee-for-service program (Part X); provides for an amended New York managed care organization provider tax at a rate of 0.35% effective January 1, 2027 (Part Y); provides that services provided in school-based health centers shall not be provided to medical assistance recipients through managed care programs (Part Z); extends provisions of law relating to reimbursement rates for medically fragile children and pediatric diagnostic and treatment centers (Part AA); amends provisions for dispute resolution for emergency services and surprise bills; provides for benchmarking of amounts allowed for health care services provider in the same or similar specialty and provided in the same geographical area (Part BB).