This bill establishes a licensing system for dietitians and nutritionists in New York. It defines "licensed dietitian" and "licensed nutritionist," requiring professionals to meet specific education and training standards to practice. The law restricts the use of titles like "dietitian" or "nutritionist" to only those who are licensed, and specifies that only licensed professionals can provide medical nutrition therapy and therapeutic diets for health conditions. It also clarifies the scope of practice for both professions, including services like nutrition counseling and managing dietary needs for chronic diseases.
Establishes a clinical preceptorship personal income tax credit for certain health care professionals who provide preceptor instruction to students studying to be a health care professional.
Establishes the mental health educational opportunity program and the mental health higher educational opportunity program to provide additional educational opportunities for students at certain universities and colleges in the state to enroll in academic programs that lead to a degree or degrees required for licensure in any of the mental health professions.
This bill requires New York's Department of Public Health to annually report on food security trends at the county level. It directs the department to include the USDA's standard six-item food security survey in its existing health tracking system and publicly post the results online each year. The law directly affects New York residents by creating a state-level tracking system to monitor food insecurity, replacing the discontinued federal USDA report. This provides lawmakers and community organizations with updated, localized data to inform decisions about nutrition assistance programs and resource allocation.
Requires insurers to cover the substitution of a brand name prescription drug when the federal food and drug administration has declared that there is a supply issue with a generic drug.
Directs the department of health to create an informational pamphlet concerning intrauterine devices; requires such informational pamphlet to be available on the department of health's website; requires practitioners to distribute such informational pamphlet to patients seeking contraceptives.
Provides that any copayment or coinsurance amount charged by an insurer to the insured for services rendered by a physical therapist or an occupational therapist shall not be more than twenty-five percent greater than the copayment or coinsurance amount imposed for an office visit to a licensed primary care physician or osteopath for the same or a similar diagnosed condition.
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).
Directs the commissioner of corrections and community supervision, in consultation with the commissioner of health and the commissioner of mental health, to develop a uniform electronic medical records system to be utilized by all correctional facilities in the state.
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.
