§ 2530-a. Payment for prenatal care special services. 1. The
commissioner is authorized to establish a program to provide services
under title eleven or title eleven-D of article five of the social
services law, for early and continuous prenatal care for pregnant women
who are eligible to receive services under those titles, to prevent
complications during pregnancy and childbirth and to reduce neonatal
intensive care admissions (referred to in this section as the
"program"). The program shall include the collection, and transmittal to
the department, of health status data pertinent to the management of
pregnancy risk on a health status data form established by the
department.

2. The collection of data under the program shall be based on the
pregnant woman's informed written consent, which shall be in a format
developed by the commissioner and maintained in the provider's medical
record. Participation in the program shall be voluntary for the pregnant
woman. A woman's failure to give consent for the collection of data
under this section or to participate in the program shall not result in
the diminution of any services otherwise available under title eleven or
eleven-D of article five of the social services law.

3. If consent and voluntary participation pursuant to subdivision two
of this section is obtained, providers of prenatal care under title
eleven or title eleven-D of article five of the social services law,
shall endeavor to collect at the earliest possible prenatal visit, and
report to the department in a form and manner determined by the
commissioner, health status data concerning each pregnant woman eligible
for services under title eleven or title eleven-D of article five of the
social services law, and treated by such provider.

4. Upon receipt of a health status data form, the department shall
take one of the following actions:

(a) If the pregnant woman, at the time of the receipt of the health
status data form by the department, is enrolled in a managed care health
plan, the department shall send the form to the plan for triage and
appropriate care management interventions, which shall include available
plan services and referrals for other services available in the
community.

(b) If the pregnant woman, at the time of the receipt of the health
status data form by the department, is not enrolled in a managed care
health plan, the department shall send the form to an entity described
in subdivision five of this section for triage and appropriate care
management services, which shall include, but not be limited to, needed
home visits and referrals to community based services for high risk
pregnant women. If the pregnant woman subsequently becomes enrolled in a
managed care health plan, the designated entity and the plan shall
assure continuity of care.

5. Patient health status data collected under this section shall be
maintained as confidential by the department and by any person or entity
to whom the department discloses the data. Such data may only be
disclosed by the department under this section.

6. For purposes of the activities described in paragraph (b) of
subdivision four of this section, the department is authorized to enter
into agreements with and, within amounts appropriated therefor, provide
funding to, local health departments or not-for-profit organizations to
promote positive pregnancy outcomes, optimal child health, growth and
development, and safe home environments.

7. The department is authorized to operate the program authorized by
this section in a subset of counties in the state.

8. Within amounts appropriated therefor, the commissioner is
authorized to develop fees to reimburse enrolled fee-for-service
providers for the collection and transmittal of clinical data authorized
by this section.