Relates to increasing membership on the public health and health planning council and directing the appointment of members representing particular areas of concern.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A9530
SPONSOR: Gottfried
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to membership on the
public health and health planning council
 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
To expand the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) to
include additional consumer representation
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends § 220 of the Public Health Law to increase
the number of PHHPC appointees by the Governor from 24 to 26. The addi-
tional 2 shall be representatives of consumer organizations under a new
definition of health care consumer advocacy organizations.
Section 2 of the bill is the effect date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) makes decisions
and recommendations to the Commissioner of Health regarding health care
facility establishment, transfer, construction, and services and Health
Department regulations. Established by Public Health Law § 225, PHHPC
currently has 24 members appointed by the Governor with the advice and
consent of the Senate. Of these 24, 11 are in required categories and
the other 13 are chosen from among an extremely broad category encom-
passing practically the entirety of health care provision and payment.
Consumer advocates have raised concerns that this has created a struc-
ture that significantly underrepresents patients directly affected by
the Council's decisions with just one consumer appointee.
This bill addresses this concern by adding additional consumer represen-
tatives. The bill also spells out a clearer definition of "health care
consumer advocacy organization" than is in current law in order to
ensure that the concerns of low- and moderate- income patients are
heard.
This bill is a modification of A4071/S870 of 2019. A4071/S870 would have
increased PHHPC membership from 24 to 36 people. In the veto message the
Governor raised quorum concerns due to size of the increase, but also
said he supported the intent of diversifying PHHPC to reflect the commu-
nity and that he would appoint additional consumer advocates. However,
a statutory chance is necessary in order to create the additional seats
for those consumers.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate, applying to all members appointed or re-appointed on or after
that date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9530
IN ASSEMBLY
January 24, 2020
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GOTTFRIED -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to membership on the
public health and health planning council
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 220 of the public health law, as amended by section
2 7 of part N of chapter 56 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 § 220. Public health and health planning council; appointment of
5 members. There shall continue to be in the department a public health
6 and health planning council to consist of the commissioner and fourteen
7 members to be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of
8 the senate; provided that effective December first, two thousand ten,
9 the membership of the council shall consist of the commissioner and
10 [twenty-four] twenty-six members to be appointed by the governor with
11 the advice and consent of the senate. Membership on the council shall be
12 reflective of the diversity of the state's population including, but not
13 limited to, the various geographic areas and population densities
14 throughout the state. The members shall include representatives of the
15 public health system, health care providers that comprise the state's
16 health care delivery system, individuals with expertise in the clinical
17 and administrative aspects of health care delivery, issues affecting
18 health care consumers, health planning, health care financing and
19 reimbursement, health care regulation and compliance, and public health
20 practice and at least two members shall also be members of the behav-
21 ioral health services advisory council; at least four members shall be
22 representatives of general hospitals or nursing homes; at least three
23 members shall be representatives of health care consumer advocacy organ-
24 izations which have a statewide or regional constituency and have been
25 involved in activities related to health care consumer advocacy includ-
26 ing issues of interest to low- and moderate-income individuals; and at
27 least one member shall be a representative of each of the following
28 groups: home care agencies, diagnostic and treatment centers, health
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14864-01-0
A. 9530 2
1 care payors, and labor organizations for health care employees[, and
2 health care consumer advocacy organizations].
3 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
4 members of the public health and health planning council appointed or
5 re-appointed on and after that date.