BILL NUMBER:S5497

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to directing the
commissioner of health to collect data on the early intervention
program for infants and toddlers with disabilities

PURPOSE:

To ensure that information is publically available for the purposes of
improving the efficiency, cost effectiveness, and quality and access
to services under the Early Intervention (EI) program.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill adds a new subdivision 4 to Section 2557 of the
Public Health Law to require the New York State Department of Health
(NYS DOH) to collect and analyze data by municipality on the EI
program including but not limited to:

*The total number of children, within a municipality, receiving
services by service type per week and the total number of services by
service type per week authorized by early intervention providers by
provider type including approved agencies, institutions, organizations
and independent providers;
              

*The number of services, by service type and provider type, that were
identified on the IFSP that were not delivered to a child;

*The number of medical assistance claims submitted. The percentage of
medical assistance claims denied and the percentage of medical
assistance claims paid. The reasons for the denials.

*The number of claims submitted for other than medical assistance. The
percentage of claims denied for other than medical assistance and the
percentage of claims paid for other than medical assistance. The
reasons for the denials.

*By municipality, the lapse in time between the completion of a final
IFSP and the initiation of services for all children; and

*The number and dollar amounts of claims submitted, by payor, that not
were paid within 90 days and the reasons for non-payment_ The NYS DOH
would be required to provide a report to the State Legislature for the
period September first two thousand fifteen to January first thirty
two thousand sixteen on or before January thirtieth two thousand
sixteen and for each calendar year thereafter on or before January
first for the preceding calendar year.

JUSTIFICATION:

The 2012-13 State Budget (Section 11 of Part A of Chapter 56 of the
Laws of 2012) eliminated the "New York State Early Intervention Report
to the Legislature" that had been required since 1993


Under the previous law, NYS DOH was required to annually report data
by municipality to the Legislature on the Early Intervention program.
Much of this information is available from an annual report from NYS
DOH to the US Department of Education. However, specific information
relating to provider capacity, timeliness of services to infants and
children, and timeliness of payment is not available. While NYS DOH
reports on the latter information at various public meetings, only
their final analysis is available, not the raw data.

Providers, families, and the State Legislature have not been able to
access timely, comprehensive, and easily available data on the
implementation of the Early Intervention program. This has been
particularly frustrating during the implementation of the new payment
system that was implemented on April 1, 2013.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None. Currently access to EI services by some infants and toddlers is
being delayed or eliminated. Continued delays and lack of access to
preventative services will actually increase long term costs for
special education services for school age children. The reinstatement
of this report will allow a full analysis of the reasons for the delay
and the development of solutions.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

Immediately