NY State Senate Bill 2011-S6939

Senate Bill S6939

2011-2012 Legislative Session

Requires health insurance companies to provide health proxy forms to the insured and to store completed proxies on behalf of the insured

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Insurance Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 13, 2012	referred to insurance

2011-S6939 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Insurance
Law Section:: Insurance Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §3217-a, add §3240, Ins L; amd §366-a, Soc Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S3139
2015-2016: S2881
2017-2018: S3998

2011-S6939 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires health insurance companies to provide health proxy forms to the insured and to store completed proxies on behalf of the insured, and requires the department of social services to provide health proxy forms and instructions to persons applying for Medicaid.

2011-S6939 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S6939

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend
the insurance law, in relation to requiring health insurance companies
to provide health care
proxy forms to the insured and to store completed
proxies on behalf of the insured
and to amend the social services law,
in relation to requiring the
department of social services to provide health care proxy forms and
instructions to applicants for Medicaid

PURPOSE OF GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To require health insurance providers in New York State to issue and
store health care proxy forms and written descriptions of its purpose
for policyholders.

SUMMARY:

Section one adds a new subsection (f) to Section 3217-a of the
insurance law to require health insurance providers to give the
health proxy form to all policy holders upon request and every two
years. Completion of the form by the policy holder is not mandatory.

Section two of this bill adds a new section 3240 which requires the
health insurance provider to receive and store the completed proxy
form with the enrollees other records. The insurance carrier shall
provide the proxy form to the healthcare institutions/medical
personnel who need to contact the proxy named on the form in the
course of the policyholder's care.

Section 366-a of the social services law is amended to require the
department to provide health care proxy forms with instructions to
complete the forms to individuals applying for Medicaid. The
department shall accept and store the completed proxy form from the
applicant. In addition the department shall supply the form to the
medical facility treating the applicant.

JUSTIFICATION:

Healthcare proxies have been legal documents in New York State since
1991. A proxy allows a person to designate someone to be their
surrogate decision-maker in a healthcare setting should they be
unable to speak or make decisions for themselves. The State
Department of Health website has forms, extensive instructions and
information on healthcare proxies. Unfortunately, very few people in
the State have completed this form, or even know that it exists.

Currently, hospitals are required by law to provide this form to
anyone being admitted, although it may not be an ideal time for the
patient to make important healthcare decisions. A person
entering a hospital may be in no condition to fill out paperwork or
consider who best understands or knows their wishes. Even if a


hospitalization is planned, it can be a stressful time for an
individual and people close to them, making them unwilling to
complete the document or to make the best choice regarding the
identity of their healthcare proxy.

For those who do have a healthcare proxy, there is no set system for
making this form available to the healthcare institution caring for
the proxy-holder. If one fills out a proxy form at a healthcare
institution, is discharged, and then some time later is admitted to a
different institution, a new form would likely be needed. If one has
supplied a completed form to one's primary care physician's office,
there is no guarantee that it will be transferred to an admitting
hospital in a timely manner. Because there is no standardized system
for storing this information, there have also been situations in
which a person's most updated proxy has not been available, and
therefore a former proxy no longer appropriate (for example, a
divorced spouse) was the legal agent.

Because it is clear that the people who are closest to a person are
best suited to represent that individual and make decisions regarding
their care, New York has recently passed into law the Family
Healthcare Decisions Act (FHDA). While this certainly represents
progress in our efforts to achieve quality patient care, it also
highlights the fact that for some the person who would be their
designated agent per FHDA may not be the one they would choose as
their healthcare proxy. Furthermore, FHDA only applies to certain
healthcare settings, while a Proxy applies to all settings. For
example, if a person suffering from dementia wished to be represented
by their spouse at their community clinic, this would be possible
under current law only if the person had designated their spouse as
their proxy.

Individuals, families, healthcare institutions, and health insurance
companies are all best served by patients and their loved ones being
satisfied that a person is receiving the individual care that they
would choose. Having a current healthcare proxy is the ideal way to
accomplish this. The only way for more people to complete this
document and update it if their life circumstances change, is to
increase exposure to the document.

Whenever a person is admitted to a healthcare institution, that
institution always contacts their insurance provider for personal
information and reimbursement purposes. In the process of such a
transaction, it would be convenient for the policy provider to make
available the Proxy's identity and contact information in whatever
format they are providing other data needed by the health care
institution (phone, fax, etc.)

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STATE:
To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall become
law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the addition,
amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and
directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.

2011-S6939 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  6939

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 13, 2012
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Insurance

AN ACT to amend the insurance  law,  in  relation  to  requiring  health
  insurance  companies to provide health care proxy forms to the insured
  and to store completed proxies on behalf of the insured and  to  amend
  the  social  services  law, in relation to requiring the department of
  social services to provide health care proxy forms and instructions to
  applicants for Medicaid

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1.  Section 3217-a of the insurance law is amended by adding a
new subsection (f) to read as follows:
  (F)  EACH INSURER SUBJECT TO THIS ARTICLE SHALL SUPPLY TO EACH INSURED
BIENNIALLY, OR UPON  REQUEST,  TO  EACH  PROSPECTIVE  INSURED  PRIOR  TO
ENROLLMENT,  A  WRITTEN HEALTH CARE PROXY FORM AND A WRITTEN DESCRIPTION
OF THE PURPOSE OF THE HEALTH CARE PROXY FORM AND THE PROCEDURE BY  WHICH
TO COMPLETE SUCH FORM.
  S 2. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 3240 to read
as follows:
  S  3240.  HEALTH  CARE  PROXY.  (A) AN INSURER SUBJECT TO THIS ARTICLE
SHALL ACCEPT RECEIPT FROM AN INSURED OF HIS OR HER COMPLETED HEALTH CARE
PROXY AND STORE  SUCH  COMPLETED  PROXY  WITH  THE  INSURED'S  PERMANENT
RECORDS. THE INSURED MAY SUBMIT SUCH PROXY TO THE INSURER AT THE TIME OF
REGISTRATION  OR  ENROLLMENT OF HIS OR HER HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY OR AT
ANY TIME THE INSURED HOLDS A POLICY WITH THE INSURER.  THE  INSURED  MAY
FILE  AN UPDATED COMPLETED PROXY WITH HIS OR HER INSURER AT ANY TIME THE
INSURED HOLDS A POLICY WITH THE INSURER.
  (B) AN INSURER SHALL PROVIDE A COPY  OF  AN  INSURED'S  MOST  RECENTLY
EXECUTED  HEALTH  CARE PROXY STORED WITH THE INSURED'S PERMANENT RECORDS
BY THE INSURER TO ANY HEALTH CARE PROVIDER OR INSTITUTION  TREATING  THE
INSURED WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AFTER RECEIVING INITIAL NOTIFICATION OF
THE INSURED'S TREATMENT.
  S  3.  Subdivision 1-a of section 366-a of the social services law, as
added by chapter 512 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD14439-03-2

S. 6939                             2

  1-a. Every person making application for medical assistance, and every
person on whose behalf an application is made, shall[,  if  interested,]
be given the New York state department of health model health care proxy
form, A WRITTEN DESCRIPTION OF THE PURPOSE OF THE HEALTH CARE PROXY FORM
AND  THE  PROCEDURE  BY WHICH TO COMPLETE SUCH FORM by the person taking
the application, except  where  doing  so  would  impede  the  immediate
provision  of health care services.  THE DEPARTMENT SHALL SUPPLY TO EACH
PERSON INSURED BIENNIALLY, OR UPON REQUEST, A WRITTEN HEALTH CARE  PROXY
FORM, A WRITTEN DESCRIPTION OF THE PURPOSE OF THE HEALTH CARE PROXY FORM
AND  THE  PROCEDURE BY WHICH TO COMPLETE SUCH FORM. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL
ACCEPT RECEIPT FROM THE APPLICANT OF HIS OR HER  COMPLETED  HEALTH  CARE
PROXY  AND  STORE  SUCH  COMPLETED  PROXY WITH THE APPLICANT'S PERMANENT
RECORDS. THE APPLICANT MAY SUBMIT HIS OR  HER  COMPLETED  PROXY  TO  THE
DEPARTMENT  AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION OR ENROLLMENT FOR BENEFITS PURSU-
ANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS TITLE OR AT  ANY  TIME  THE  APPLICANT  IS
RECEIVING BENEFITS PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS TITLE. THE DEPART-
MENT  SHALL  PROVIDE  A  COPY  OF THE APPLICANT'S MOST RECENTLY EXECUTED
HEALTH CARE PROXY STORED WITH THE APPLICANT'S PERMANENT RECORDS  BY  THE
DEPARTMENT  TO  ANY  HEALTH  CARE  PROVIDER  OR INSTITUTION TREATING THE
APPLICANT WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AFTER RECEIVING INITIAL  NOTIFICATION
OF THE APPLICANT'S TREATMENT.
  S  4.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law; provided, however, that  effective  immediately,  the
addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation necessary
for the implementation of this act on its effective date are  authorized
and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.

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