NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A11050
SPONSOR: Rules (Lupardo)
 
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the elder law, in relation to the
long-term care ombudsman program
 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
The purpose of this legislation is to bring the Elder Law in line with
federal statute and newly promulgated federal regulations so that the
state law that governs the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP) is
in conformance with the federal law and regulations that govern the
LTCOP.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill would do the following:
*Enumerate the responsibilities of the LTCOP and include the responsi-
bilities that are required by federal law;
*Establish the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman and list the
qualifications required of an individual who is being considered for the
position of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman;
*Address the responsibilities of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman and
the requirements for the designation of local ombudsmen and local
ombudsman entities;
*Discuss the State Ombudsman's ability to refuse, suspend or withdraw
the designation of local ombudsman entities;
*List the requirements around identification, removal and remedy of both
organizational and individual conflicts of interest;
*Require ombudsmen access to residents and long-term care facilities and
ombudsmen access to resident and facility records;
*Specify the types of records to which the ombudsmen have access and
under what circumstances ombudsmen may access those records;
*Set forth language that prohibits the interference with an ombudsman
while the ombudsman is carrying out his or her duties; and
*Dictate the circumstances under which ombudsmen may reveal a resident's
personal information to an individual not associated with the LTCOP.
Section 2 of the bill would require the act to take effect immediately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The LTCOP is established in the Older Americans Act of 1965 (OAA) for
the purpose of serving as a resource and advocate for residents of nurs-
ing homes, adult homes, assisted living facilities and family type
homes. As required by the OAA, Ombudsmen work to identify, investigate,
and resolve problems of individual residents and to bring about changes
at the local, state and national levels that will improve residents'
care and quality of life. The New York State Elder Law establishes the
Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman within the New York State Office
for the Aging and mirrors the objectives of the OAA. This legislation
would bring the Elder Law in line with federal statute and the new regu-
lations promulgated thereunder that govern the LTCOP. NYSOFA is
compelled to have the Elder Law be in compliance and conformance with
federal law and regulations. Failure by NYSOFA to achieve that compli-
ance and conformance would jeopardize federal funding not only for the
LTCOP, but for all OAA funded services administered by NYSOFA and our
network of aging services providers which includes county sponsored area
agencies on aging and not-for-profit aging services providers.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new proposal.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.