BILL NUMBER: S8600A

SPONSOR: AMEDORE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing an
opioid treatment services demonstration program

 
PURPOSE:

To authorize the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services
(OASAS), at its discretion, to approve qualified opioid treatment appli-
cants seeking to establish in a region that is in need of such services,
regardless of whether the company is owned by natural people or another
business entity.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 establishes an opioid treatment services demonstration
program.

              

Section 2 directs the OASAS to issue a report assessing the efficacy of
the demonstration program, including the number of facilities approved
under the program, the geographic distribution of such providers and the
level of access provided to low income populations.  This report shall
be issued on or before December 31, 2022.

Section 3 establishes an immediate effective date and the sunset of the
chapter, which is December 31, 2022.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

It is well established that New York, and the entire nation, is facing a
substance abuse epidemic of crisis proportion. Rates of overdose deaths
are particularly high in many counties in upstate and western New York.
The State needs to ensure that sufficient opioid treatment services are
available in all parts of the State.

New York's Mental Hygiene Law appropriately requires all providers of
these treatment services to obtain approval from the Office of Alcohol-
ism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) prior to establishment. In
evaluating such applications, OASAS is to consider, among other things,
public need, character and competency of the organization and the indi-
viduals involved therein, and the financial condition of the applicant.
The Mental Hygiene Law currently prevents OASAS from granting approval
to an entity, regardless of the character and competency of the organ-
ization and the individuals involved, if the applicant is a corporation
with stock owned by another corporation.

This legislation sets up a five-year demonstration program under which
OASAS is authorized, at its discretion, to approve qualified opioid
treatment applicants seeking to establish in a region that is in need of
such services, regardless of whether the company is owned by natural
people or another business entity. The legislation ensures that the
applicant, the applicant's principal stockholders, and members, as well
as the applicant's controlling persons, would all comply with the char-
acter and competency requirements imposed on any other applicant,
regardless of its business structure. OASAS would continue to be
empowered to remove the approval if the entity fails to render quality
care. Similar standards have been applied in other areas of law for
corporate entities rendering health care services with this kind of
corporate stock ownership, and have resulted in increased accessibility
of health care services.

The demonstration program runs until December 31, 2022. The OASAS shall
issue a report on the demonstration program on or before that date.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.