S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5131
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 7, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ARROYO -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Health
 
 AN ACT to establish a Minority Coordinating Council on Asthmatic Affairs
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
 the "Lydia Soto law".
   §  2.  Legislative findings and intent. According to the American Lung
 Association, there are over 1.6 million New Yorkers  with  asthma,  with
 over  380,000 of them being children. The annual cost of asthma is esti-
 mated to be nearly 18 billion dollars. Access to health care for  ethnic
 minorities is often hampered by socio-economic disparities, shortages of
 primary  care  physicians in minority communities, language and literacy
 barriers, and cultural beliefs about the role and  usefulness  of  medi-
 cines.  There have emerged clear disparities in the burden and treatment
 of asthma in the communities of ethnic minorities. The burden of  asthma
 falls  disproportionately  on  the  African-American  and Hispanic popu-
 lations, and especially on children of these ethnic  minorities.  There-
 fore,  it  is  the  intent  of this legislature to create a coordinating
 council to address these issues and to improve awareness and  management
 of asthma prevention and treatment for minorities in this state.
   §  3. The commissioner of health shall establish a Minority Coordinat-
 ing Council on Asthmatic Affairs. The commissioner shall appoint as many
 members as he or she  determines  appropriate.  Such  members  shall  be
 representative  of  those regions of the state with significant minority
 populations and shall include health care professionals  with  knowledge
 and  experience  in  the  prevention  and treatment of asthma and in the
 areas of public health care funding. The council shall be  tasked  with:
 (a)  assessing the asthma risk factors for the minority citizens of this
 state, its counties and regions; (b) identifying the  existing  barriers
 to  quality  asthma  treatment and care among minorities; (c) developing
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD09031-01-9

 A. 5131                             2
 
 action steps for addressing care issues; and (d) launching a  state-wide
 asthma  awareness  campaign  to  educate citizens about the disease, its
 symptoms, and the ability to better manage asthma through prevention and
 treatment. The council shall deliver an annual report addressing various
 asthma program successes, new trends, data and issues surrounding minor-
 ity  populations  suffering from asthma to the governor and the legisla-
 ture beginning September 1, 2023, and annually thereafter.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.