S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8525
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 8, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MONTGOMERY  -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the Jonah
   Bichotte Cowan law relating to pre-term labor care and  directing  the
   commissioner  of health to require hospitals to provide pre-term labor
   patients with information regarding the potential  health  effects  of
   pre-term labor and pre-term delivery on an expectant mother and on her
   fetus
 
   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 "Jonah Bichotte Cowan law".
   §  2.  The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2509-b
 to read as follows:
   § 2509-B.  PRE-TERM LABOR CARE. 1. WHEN AN EXPECTANT  MOTHER  PRESENTS
 AT  A  GENERAL HOSPITAL WITH CONCERNS ABOUT BEING IN PRE-TERM LABOR, THE
 GENERAL HOSPITAL SHALL:
   (A) DETERMINE WHETHER THE EXPECTANT MOTHER IS IN PRE-TERM LABOR;
   (B) UPON MAKING A DIAGNOSIS OF PRE-TERM  LABOR,  ADMIT  THE  EXPECTANT
 MOTHER  TO  THE  GENERAL HOSPITAL OR TREAT HER IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM FOR
 CLOSE OBSERVATION AND CONTINUOUS MONITORING UNTIL IT IS DEEMED MEDICALLY
 SAFE FOR DISCHARGE FROM THE GENERAL HOSPITAL OR  STABILIZE  AND  ARRANGE
 FOR  AN APPROPRIATE TRANSFER OF SUCH EXPECTANT MOTHER TO ANOTHER GENERAL
 HOSPITAL; AND
   (C) PROVIDE THE EXPECTANT MOTHER WITH INFORMATION CONCERNING  PRE-TERM
 LABOR  AND  THE POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS OF PRE-TERM LABOR AND PREMATURE
 BIRTH DELIVERY ON THE MOTHER AND ON HER FETUS  AS  REQUIRED  BY  SECTION
 TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED THREE-J OF THIS CHAPTER.
   2.  AS USED IN THIS SECTION, "GENERAL HOSPITAL" MEANS A GENERAL HOSPI-
 TAL AS DEFINED IN SECTION TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED ONE OF THIS CHAPTER.
   § 3. Subdivisions 1 and 1-a of section 2803-j  of  the  public  health
 law,  subdivision  1  as  amended  by chapter 66 of the laws of 2020 and
 subdivision 1-a as added by chapter 56 of the laws of 1996, are  amended
 and a new subdivision 1-f is added to read as follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00398-08-0

 S. 8525                             2
 
   1. The commissioner shall require that every hospital and birth center
 shall  prepare in printed or photocopied form and distribute at the time
 of pre-booking directly to each prospective maternity patient and,  upon
 request,  to  the general public an informational leaflet.  SUCH LEAFLET
 SHALL  ALSO  BE  DISTRIBUTED TO ANY EXPECTANT MOTHER WHO PRESENTS AT THE
 HOSPITAL DURING PREGNANCY. Such leaflet shall be designed by the commis-
 sioner and shall contain brief definitions of maternity  related  proce-
 dures  and practices as specified in subdivision two of this section and
 such other material as deemed appropriate by the commissioner. Hospitals
 and birth centers may also elect to  distribute  additional  explanatory
 material  along  with  the maternity patients informational leaflet. The
 commissioner shall make the information contained in the leaflet  avail-
 able on the department's website.
   1-a. The informational leaflet shall also include:
   (A)  an  explanation  of  the special provisions relating to maternity
 care and coverage under the insurance  law  and  section  [two  thousand
 eight]  TWENTY-EIGHT  hundred  three-n  of  this  [chapter] ARTICLE, and
 suggest that expectant parents check their insurance  policies  for  the
 details of their maternity coverage; AND
   (B)  A STATEMENT THAT THE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM PROVIDES COVERAGE
 FOR ALL INCOME-ELIGIBLE PREGNANT WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  RESIDING  IN  THE
 STATE REGARDLESS OF IMMIGRATION STATUS.
   1-F. THE INFORMATIONAL LEAFLET SHALL ALSO INCLUDE INFORMATION RELATING
 TO  PRE-TERM  LABOR  AND  PREMATURE  BIRTH, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
 DEFINITIONS AND INFORMATION ON THE RISKS THAT PRE-TERM LABOR AND  PREMA-
 TURE BIRTH POSE TO THE EXPECTANT MOTHER AND FETUS.
   §  4.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
 have become a law.  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 to be made and completed
 on or before such date.