What's happening
This bill increases the maximum number of alternate physicians on the New York City employees' retirement system medical board from four to seven.
Why it matters
Expanding the number of alternate physicians on the medical board could improve the board’s ability to process disability and retirement applications more efficiently, potentially reducing backlogs or delays for city employees seeking medical evaluation.
With up to seven alternates (instead of four), the board gains greater flexibility to create multiple groups of three physicians, making it easier to convene panels even when some members are unavailable due to scheduling conflicts or absences.
This change could allow for a broader range of medical expertise and perspectives when evaluating complex health cases, possibly leading to more thorough and fair determinations for employees.
The amendment may reflect an increased workload or caseload for the medical board, suggesting that the city’s employee population or the number of cases requiring medical review has grown, necessitating more alternates to maintain effective operations.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Allow More Alternate Physicians
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.330
- Referred to cities
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.
Expand Alternate Physician Limit
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Employees · Sponsor Peter Abbate
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7186
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 3, 2018
Introduced by Sen. GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the medical board of the New York city employees' retirement system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision a of section 13-123 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 59 of the city of New York for the year 1996, is amended to read as follows:
a. (1) There shall be a medical board of three physicians. One of such physicians shall be appointed by the board and shall hold office at the pleasure of such board, one shall be appointed by the commissioner of health and shall hold office at the pleasure of such commissioner, and the third shall be appointed by the commissioner of citywide administrative services and shall hold office at the pleasure of such commissioner.
(2) The board, the commissioner of health and the commissioner of citywide administrative services shall each have power to appoint one or more but not exceeding [four] seven alternate physicians, who shall hold office at the pleasure of such appointing board or official. Whenever the board of trustees of the retirement system shall so direct, the functions, powers and duties of the medical board, in addition to being performed and exercised by the three physicians appointed pursuant to paragraph one of this subdivision, shall be performed and exercised by one or more groups of three physicians as hereinafter prescribed. Each such group of three physicians shall function separately as the medical board and each such group may consist partly of a physician or physicians appointed pursuant to paragraph one of this subdivision and partly of one or more alternate physicians or may consist entirely of alternate physicians; provided, however, that one of the physicians or alternate physicians in each such group shall be appointed by the board, one by the commissioner of health and one by the commissioner of citywide administrative services.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13910-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the medical board of the New York city employees' retirement system
Purpose
This bill would increase the number of physicians employed on medical boards of the New York City Employees' Retirement System.
Summary of provisions
Section one of this bill amends subdivision a of New York City Adminis- trative Code section 13-123 to increase the number of alternate medical boards from four to seven and to increase from twelve to twenty-one the number of physicians that could be appointed by the Medical Board to serve as alternate physicians for purposes of staffing medical boards to evaluate applicants for disability pensions.
Section two of this bill provides that this act shall take effect imme- diately.
Justification
There is currently a delay for applicants for disability pensions to be seen by a medical board that in turn causes these applicants to have to wait an inordinate amount of time to have their applications acted upon by the retirement system board. By increasing the number of physicians that could evaluate applicants, these delays would be ameliorated and the retirement system board could render a decision in a more timely manner.
Legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None to the State.
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.