NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4014
SPONSOR: Zaccaro TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to excluding certain
runaway youths from being able to consent to certain medical, dental,
health and hospital services
PURPOSE:
To clarify which individuals under the age of 18 may give effective
consent for medical, dental, health and hospital services.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill amends Chapter 780 of the laws of 2022 by clarifying that a
homeless youth or individual that received services at an approved runa-
way and homeless youth crisis services program or transitional independ-
ent living support program may give consent for medical, dental, health
and hospital services for themselves.
JUSTIFICATION:
Current law allows homeless youth and runaway youth under the age of
eighteen to give consent for medical, dental, health, and hospital
services. It is imperative that all young people have access to health
care when they need it. Timely treatment and preventative care are crit-
ical for young people's health and well-being and enable them to excel
in school and beyond. This bill provides guardrails to ensure that youth
who have demonstrated the need to consent to medical care, by receiving
crisis services through approved programs, may consent for their own
medical care.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:
None noted.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a
chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the public health law relating to
enabling certain persons to consent for certain medical, dental, health
and hospital services, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 8937
and A. 9604, takes effect.
