NY State Senate Bill 2025-S1747

Senate Bill S1747

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Provides for eligibility for medical assistance for personal care services for persons with traumatic brain injury, developmental disability, cognitive impairments, blindness or visual impairment

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 13, 2025	referred to health

2025-S1747 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Social Services Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§365-a & 365-f, Soc Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S8403
2021-2022: S3055
2023-2024: S5470

2025-S1747 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for eligibility for medical assistance for personal care services for persons with traumatic brain injury, developmental disability, cognitive impairments, blindness or visual impairment.

2025-S1747 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1747

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to eligibility for
medical assistance for personal care services for persons with traumatic
brain injury, cognitive impairments, developmental disabilities, blind-
ness, or  visual impairment

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To clarify that provisions protecting eligibility for personal care at
home, afforded to persons with dementia or Alzheimer's in recently
enacted legislation, extends as well to persons with traumatic brain
injury, cognitive impairments, developmental disabilities, blindness, or
visual impairment.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Sections 1 and 2 amend Social Services Law sections 365-a and 365-f, as
it relates to responsibility for medical assistance, to extend that

provision to persons with traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairments,
developmental disabilities, blindness, or visual impairment.

Section 3 provides an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

"Activities of daily living" (ADLs) are understood as eating, bathing,
getting dressed, toileting, mobility, transferring from a laying or
sitting position to standing, and continence care. Until now, whenever a
Medicaid-eligible person has been assessed as requiring assistance with
routine functions, Medicaid provides at least "level one" personal care.
An individual assessment determined the actual number of hours of this
basic level of service. It was often not even a daily visit, instead
amounting to usually eight hours a week.  However, this was enough
support to enable individuals to stay in their homes and communities,
avoiding accidents, injury, deteriorating health conditions, and insti-
tutionalization.

The enacted 2020-21 budget limited access to Medicaid personal care to
only those requiring physical assistance with three or more ADLs.  Only
in the case of dementia or Alzheimer's could an applicant avoid the
near-certain diminishing of their health, safety, and ability to remain
at home before Medicaid would come to their aid. It sensibly applies a
lower threshold for people with dementia or Alzheimer's.  That lower
threshold should similarly apply to patients with traumatic brain inju-
ry, cognitive impairments, developmental disabilities, blindness, or
visual impairment.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020: S8403/A10486 Gottfried

2021-2022: S3055-A/No same as

2023-2024: S5470/No same-as

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2025-S1747 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1747
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to eligibility  for
   medical  assistance  for personal care services for persons with trau-
   matic brain injury, cognitive impairments, developmental disabilities,
   blindness, or  visual impairment
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subparagraph  (v)  of  paragraph  (e) of subdivision 2 of
 section 365-a of the social services law, as added  by  section  2-a  of
 part  MM  of  chapter  56  of  the  laws  of 2020, is amended to read as
 follows:
   (v) subject to the availability of  federal  financial  participation,
 personal  care  services other than personal emergency response services
 available pursuant to this paragraph shall be available only to individ-
 uals assessed as needing  at  least  limited  assistance  with  physical
 maneuvering  with more than two activities of daily living, or for indi-
 viduals with a dementia or Alzheimer's diagnosis, TRAUMATIC BRAIN  INJU-
 RY, COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY, BLINDNESS, OR VISUAL
 IMPAIRMENT,  assessed as needing at least supervision with more than one
 activity of  daily  living,  as  defined  and  determined  by  using  an
 evidenced  based validated assessment instrument approved by the commis-
 sioner and in accordance with regulations  of  the  department  and  any
 applicable  state  and  federal  laws  by  an  independent assessor. The
 provisions of this subparagraph shall  only  apply  to  individuals  who
 receive  an  initial authorization for such services on or after October
 first, two thousand twenty;
   § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section  365-f  of  the  social
 services  law,  as  amended by section 3 of part MM of chapter 56 of the
 laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04824-01-5
 S. 1747                             2

 
   (c) has been determined by the social services district,  pursuant  to
 an assessment of the person's appropriateness for the program, conducted
 with an appropriate long term home health care program, a certified home
 health  agency, or an AIDS home care program or pursuant to the personal
 care  program,  as  being  in need of home care services or private duty
 nursing and as needing at least limited assistance with physical  maneu-
 vering  with  more  than  two activities of daily living, or for persons
 with a dementia or Alzheimer's diagnosis, TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, COGNI-
 TIVE IMPAIRMENT, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY, BLINDNESS, OR VISUAL  IMPAIR-
 MENT, ASSESSED as needing at least supervision with more than one activ-
 ity  of daily living, provided that the provisions related to activities
 of daily living in this  paragraph  shall  only  apply  to  persons  who
 initially  seek  eligibility  for the program on or after October first,
 two thousand twenty, and who is able and willing  or  has  a  designated
 representative,  including  a  legal  guardian  able and willing to make
 informed choices, or a designated relative or other adult  who  is  able
 and  willing  to  assist  in making informed choices, as to the type and
 quality of services, including but not limited to such services as nurs-
 ing care, personal care, transportation and respite services; and
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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