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Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to insurance
- Referred to insurance
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S790
Title of bill
An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to private air ambulance service
Purpose or general idea of bill
To clarify that a subscription plan offered by a non-profit air ambulance service is exempt from insurance licensing and other requirements.
Summary of provisions
Section 1108 of the insurance law is amended by adding a new subsection (o) stating that a private air ambulance services that solicits membership subscriptions does not fall under the purview of insurance provided it meets certain criteria.
Justification
Subscription plans have a long history of serving as a means for charitable donations to emergency medical transporters. Many volunteer ambulance companies and air medical transports have used subscription plans as a way to encourage their communities' participation and to supplement their financial needs. In recent years, there were some concerns that these subscription plans may have fallen within the definition of insurance and therefore needed to be licensed by the New York State Insurance Department. This bill will clarify that a subscription plan offered by a non-profit air ambulance service is not insurance and therefore allowable.
Air medical services generally handle on-scene emergency calls which include car accidents, skiing injuries, and industrial accidents. The rapid transport and quality of care received in the air has saved thousands of lives and improved recovery outcomes for thousands more. Emergency and inter-facility air transportation is expensive and the cost is not wholly covered by insurance. Non-profit providers struggle to keep their organizations viable and staffed with high quality and well trained individuals yet their services are essential, particularly in rural parts of New York. Rather than face losing these vital non-profits, this legislation would allow these organizations to use a subscription plan as one of their many fundraising tools.
Prior legislative history
2013/2014 - S.1152 Referred to the Senate Committee on Insurance 2011/2012 - S.3518 Referred to Senate Committee on Insurance 2009/2010 - S.8076 Referred to Senate Committee
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.