BILL NUMBER:S3384

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to providing
managed care enrollees access to the services of the foot center of
New York

PURPOSE:

To amend the social service law to designate an academic podiatry
center as a State Specialty Care Center for its podiatry services.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one reletters clause (F) of section 364-j(4)(a)(iii) of the
Social Services Law to (G) and adds a new clause (F) to mandate the
reporting of services provided at an academic podiatry center. Any
diagnostic or treatment center providing podiatric services must
report to the Governor, Temporary Senate President and Assembly
Speaker on the number of visits made by medical assistance recipients
at each facility, and that number is broken down further into the
number of medical assistance recipients who were enrolled in managed
care programs, then broken down again into the number of medical
assistance recipients enrolled in managed care programs with podiatric
benefits in their coverage. Lastly, these facilities must also report
              

the number of visits by patients who were uninsured.

Section two states that this act shall take effect immediately,
provided however, that the amendment to section 364-j of the social
services law made by sections one and two of this act shall not affect
the repeal of such section and shall be deemed to be repealed
therewith.

JUSTIFICATION:

The affordability and accessibility of podiatric services such as
those provided by an academic podiatry center is a lifeline for
residents in low-income communities across New York City where a large
portion of the population is grappling with diabetes and many of these
individuals are on some form of public assistance. Diabetes is a
citywide epidemic, according to the New York City Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene more than 500,000 adult New Yorkers have been
diagnosed with diabetes and additional 200,000 have diabetes but do
not yet know it. Diabetes and diabetes-associated cardiovascular
diseases are leading causes of death in New York City. These figures
are worse in lower income areas of the City where residents have up to
5 times the mortality rates of diabetes as compared with New York City
residents overall-with the vast majority of individuals on Medicaid or
Medicare, or uninsured. Given these atrocious statistics, preserving
affordable and accessible care at podiatry clinics such as Foot Care
Center of New York, the only podiatric clinic in upper Manhattan is a
citywide imperative. Under the Managed Long Term Care reform enrollees
will no longer have free access to the podiatry clinic and will be
forced to get these services out side of their community or in
emergency rooms as cases go undetected or untreated. "Free access"
means that managed care plan enrollees are free to access these


clinics, regardless of whether the clinic is in their plans network
and without the plans prior approval. Currently, the State allows free
access to managed care enrollees at the SUNY College of Optometry as
well as academic dental centers-but not for academic podiatry centers.

This legislation seeks to amend the Social Services Law for the sole
purpose of preserving the accessibility and affordability of the
specialty services which combat diabetes provided at the limited
number of podiatric clinics, like an academic podiatry center.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2014: S.6142-A - Passed in Senate

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

Section two states that this act shall take effect immediately,
provided however, that the amendment to section 364-j of the social
services law made by sections one and two of this act shall not affect
the repeal of such section and shall be deemed to be repealed
therewith.