Requires inspections of child day care homes, programs and facilities include the full premises; requires providers of a family day care home or group family day care home to disclose to the office of children and family services all persons who reside in the home where child day care is being provided; requires all providers of child day care to receive training for, provide and maintain onsite opioid antagonists for use during emergencies.
This bill allows licensed creative arts therapists (as defined under New York's Education Law Article 163) to bill Medicaid directly for their services. It amends the social services law to explicitly include these therapists in the list of providers permitted to bill Medicaid directly for covered mental health services. The change affects creative arts therapists who currently provide services within their scope of practice but may have previously needed intermediaries to access Medicaid reimbursement. The bill does not alter their scope of practice or expand covered services - it only changes the billing mechanism. This would streamline payment for these therapists while maintaining existing Medicaid coverage rules.
This bill amends New York's education law to clarify supervision requirements for marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors. It specifies that applicants must complete 3,000 hours of post-master's supervised experience (for mental health counselors) or 1,500 client contact hours (for marriage and family therapists), all under qualified supervisors. Supervisors must hold at least 3 years of licensure, have diagnostic privileges, and complete 36 hours of continuing education in supervision ethics. The bill also allows the department to accept supervised experience obtained in waiver-exempt settings or under good-faith belief of proper authorization. These changes directly affect therapists seeking licensure and those providing supervision in mental health practice.
S 5860 modernizes New York's chiropractic practice laws by expanding what licensed chiropractors can legally do. The bill allows chiropractors to use diagnostic imaging (like X-rays), provide nutritional counseling, dispense approved supplements, and perform certain soft tissue treatments - previously restricted under older rules. It also authorizes chiropractic clinical assistants to support licensed practitioners under supervision. This directly affects chiropractors and their patients in New York, clarifying scope boundaries without permitting drug prescriptions or surgical procedures. The bill passed the Senate in June 2025 and is now pending in the Assembly's Higher Education committee.
Relates to the construction of facilities for chemical dependence services that promote the privacy of individuals while bathing, sleeping, using restrooms and receiving individual counseling services, while also allowing for maximization of the use of such facility.
Senate Bill S 4969 requires all general hospitals to establish policies and procedures for victims of firearm violence. Hospitals must develop plans for identifying, assessing, treating, and referring individuals with injuries from firearms, and provide training to their medical, clinical, and security personnel. Upon discharge, hospitals must inform victims about available psychiatric services related to firearm violence and coordinate these services if requested. The Commissioner of Health will provide a model policy for hospitals and identify psychiatric service organizations in their areas.
Requires the New York city department of corrections and the New York city health and hospitals corporation to adopt safety policies to protect health care workers who treat incarcerated individuals.
Establishes an employee mental health services program for all employees who work for the department of corrections and community supervision and all employees of the office of mental health who deliver services to incarcerated individuals overseen by the department of corrections and community supervision.
Directs the commissioner of health shall promulgate regulations allowing for any electronic health records integration vendor to obtain state approval to facilitate interoperability between the prescription monitoring program registry and certified electronic health records systems that can connect with any national data sharing hub.
This bill requires most health insurance policies in New York to cover diabetes and prediabetes screening at no cost to the patient. It applies to policies covering physician services or major medical coverage, mandating that insurers include screening per national evidence-based guidelines without deductibles, copays, or other cost-sharing. The law affects health insurance companies and their policyholders who need preventive diabetes screening. Coverage must be provided free of charge for all qualifying policies issued or renewed after the effective date.
