Over 90 Total Lots Up For Auction at One Location - WA 04/08

New York governor signs new health care bills into law

by Astrid Fiano, DOTmed News Writer | August 19, 2010
New York Governor
David Paterson
New York Governor David Paterson has signed numerous health care-related bills into law that concern protections for disabled persons with insurance, body tissue theft, day care facilities, emergency care workers, and provides important information for patients undergoing mastectomies and those in need of palliative care.



The new laws include:

S6263C/A 9243-B: Enacts Ian's Law. New York State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman introduced Ian's Law to protect patients from wrongful insurance practices. The legislation would prohibit insurers from dropping entire classes of insurance as a pretext to deny coverage to individual policyholders (who have expensive medical conditions) and require insurance companies to obtain prior approval from the state Insurance Department before discontinuing a class of insurance.

S2087B/A432-B: This law amends the previous state law on body stealing to include prohibitions on removing tissues and organs from a body buried or awaiting burial to sell without authorization. The crime of stealing organs, tissues and other body parts is a felony. Receiving stolen body parts is a misdemeanor.

A10094B/S6993-B: This law concerns information and access to breast reconstructive surgery. The law states that every general hospital providing mastectomies, lymph node dissection or lumpectomies will be required to provide information to the patient concerning the option of reconstructive surgery. The information will be in writing and in advance of obtaining consent to the surgical procedure. The information will include: a description of the various reconstructive options and the advantages and disadvantages of each, and description of the provisions assuring coverage by public and private insurance plans of the costs related to reconstructive surgery under federal and state law.

A7923/S3644: This law requires that at least one employee at a child day care facility or family day care home be trained and certified in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid.

A7617/S4498: This law states that if a patient is diagnosed with a terminal illness or condition, the patient's health care practitioner is required to offer the patient information and counseling regarding palliative care and end-of-life options appropriate to the patient, including: the range of options appropriate to the patient; the prognosis, risks and benefits of the options; and the patient's legal rights to comprehensive pain and symptom management at end of life. The information and counseling may be oral or in writing. If the patient does not have the capacity to reasonably understand and make an informed choice, the attending health care practitioner will provide the information to the person with authority to make health care decisions for the patient.

A3103A/S4018-A: This law adds registered nurse and licensed practical nurse to the category of emergency medical professionals of whom assault and physical injury is a felony.

Read DOTmed Business News' special report on Violence Against Nurses from our July 2010 edition.