What's happening
This bill requires the creation of a standardized screening tool for healthcare professionals to identify and address elder abuse and maltreatment.
Why it matters
Standardized screening will help healthcare professionals consistently identify a wide range of elder abuse types. , including physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, neglect, abandonment, financial exploitation, self-neglect, and unwarranted control—potentially increasing early intervention and support.
By requiring culturally and linguistically appropriate tools. , the bill aims to ensure that screenings are effective and respectful across New York’s diverse elderly population, reducing the risk of misunderstandings or missed cases due to language or cultural barriers.
The act creates a formal mechanism for reporting and tracking suspected elder abuse. , enabling better data collection on prevalence and trends, which can inform future policy decisions and resource allocation.
Elderly patients retain autonomy by having the right to refuse screening. , and the bill protects practitioners’ scope of practice, ensuring that legal and professional obligations are not diminished—balancing patient rights with public health goals.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Screen for Elder Abuse
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to aging
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to health
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 60–0
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.377
- Referred to aging
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Screen for Elder Abuse
In Assembly Committee · Health · Sponsor Donna Lupardo
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2136
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 12, 2017
Introduced by Sen. SERINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Aging
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to screening for elder abuse and maltreatment
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 19 to read as follows:
ARTICLE 19
ELDER ABUSE AND MALTREATMENT SCREENING Section 1900. Legislative purpose.
1901. Elder abuse and maltreatment screening.
§ 1900. Legislative purpose. The correlation between elder abuse and maltreatment with increased hospitalizations, admissions and mortality highlights the need for increased medical interventions, particularly as New York continues to implement national healthcare reform initiatives. A screening tool, to be utilized by medical professionals at important junctures in the lives of those sixty years of age and older, presents a significant opportunity for trusted medical providers to help identify high risk patients and help to ensure their continued health and safety.
§ 1901. Elder abuse and maltreatment screening. 1. The commissioner shall establish a screening tool to identify abuse in elderly individuals. Physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners may use the tool to assist in identifying abuse or maltreatment in their elderly patients during the course of treatment including, but not limited to, annual physical exams or as part of patient screening under the uniform assessment system for long term care as established by the department.
2. The screening tool shall include, but not be limited to:
a. a uniform intervention questionnaire with a common scale that can be used across health care environments and populations to assist in the identification of high risk patients;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04888-01-7
S. 2136 2
b. questions that can be used for both cognitively intact as well as cognitively impaired individuals;
c. standardized intervention protocols including specific language and uniform definitions of physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse, in addition to, neglect, abandonment, financial or material exploitation, self-neglect and unwarranted control;
d. a list of resources to address the needs of patients identified as being victims of abuse; and
e. documentation in a reportable format that may be used by the practitioner to report suspected elder abuse and maltreatment cases to the department for the purposes of tracking prevalence.
3. The screening tool shall be culturally and linguistically appropriate in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner.
4. Patients shall not be required to be subject to screening if they refuse to participate or are in an urgent or emergent situation.
5. This section shall not affect the scope of practice of any health care practitioner or diminish any authority or legal or professional obligations of any health care practitioner.
6. The commissioner shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to screening for elder abuse and maltreatment
Purpose
This legislation will require the Commissioner of Health to develop a screening tool to identify abuse in elderly individuals that may be used by health care providers.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Amends the Public Health Law to add a new Article 19. Article 19 will require the Commissioner of Health to develop a screening tool to identify various forms of abuse or maltreatment in elderly patients that may be used by health care providers during courses of treatment, including but not limited to, annual physical exams or patient screenings under the uniform assessment system for long term care.
Read the full memo (611 words)
Section 2: Establishes the effective date.
Justification
Elder abuse has emerged nationally as one of the most underreported crimes. It has been noted that elderly victims who are experiencing abuse from loved ones, friends, or neighbors will often refuse help out of fear, embarrassment, or the desire to protect their abuser. Often this will lead to the continuation of cases that compromise the financial, physical, and mental health of victims. It cannot be overstated that these cases have very real impacts and can lead to tragic consequences. In fact, it has been noted that elders who experience abuse, even moderate in severity, have a 300% percent higher risk of death when compared to those who have not been abused. In fact, there are high correlations between elder abuse and maltreatment with hospitalization rates, readmissions, and as aforementioned, the mortality of victims. Because health care practitioners are in the unique position of seeing patients at regular intervals, as well as developing long-term relationships of trust, they have significant opportunities to help identify elder abuse and maltreatment.
Given the trust and rapport developed through the relationship between provider and patient, national healthcare agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have begun implementing measures that will increase identification and reporting of suspected abuse across settings and provider types. In 2004, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force found that there were no reliable screening tools available to identify abuse of elderly or vulnerable adults in the primary care setting. As a result, CMS began to review its physician quality reporting system measure, and introduced an Elder Maltreatment Screen and Follow-up Plan.
As national entities continue to refine intervention techniques and tools for providers to recognize abuse and maltreatment in the elderly community, the state must begin to explore these issues and provide proper guidance to our healthcare community as well. This legislation will require the Commissioner of Health to develop a voluntary screening tool for elder abuse and maltreatment for physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, in order to encourage screenings across settings at important intervals, including annual physicals and as part of the uniform assessment system for long term care. To that end, the tool will provide practitioners with guidance that articulates, among other things, common definitions of abuse, questions that may be used for those who have cognitive impairments, and most of all, a list of resources that may be provided to those patients identified as being victims of abuse.
Health care providers play an integral role in our communities, particularly with respect to their ability to identify important changes in the life conditions of their patients and their quality of life. As the aging population continues to grow, we must support this vital relationship between provider and patient with support and information.
Legislative history
2016: S.6925 Passed Senate
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.