What's happening
The bill exempts decisions about routine medical treatment for hospice patients without a surrogate from ethics review committee oversight.
Why it matters
Speeds up routine care for hospice patients without a surrogate. By removing ethics committee oversight for routine treatments, the bill allows healthcare providers to make timely decisions for patients who lack someone to speak on their behalf.
Reduces administrative burden. Ethics committee reviews can be time-consuming and resource-intensive; exempting routine treatment decisions frees up these resources for more complex or ethically challenging cases.
Clarifies what counts as “routine” medical treatment. The bill explicitly distinguishes between routine care and more serious interventions, providing clearer guidance for hospice staff and helping avoid unnecessary delays or confusion in patient care.
May impact patient safeguards. While it streamlines care, the exemption could raise concerns about ensuring appropriate oversight for vulnerable patients, making it important that “routine” is clearly defined and monitored.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Hospice Care Choice for Adults
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Substituted by A1124
- Ordered to third reading cal.1452
- Referred to rules
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.
Easier Care for Lonely Patients
Signed by Governor · Sponsor Richard Gottfried
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6356
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 6, 2019
Introduced by Sen. RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to decisions about routine medical treatment for hospice patients without a surrogate decision maker
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 5-a of section 2994-g of the public health law, as added by chapter 430 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
(c) The ethics review committee of the general hospital, residential health care facility or hospice, as applicable, including at least one physician or nurse practitioner who is not the patient's attending physician or attending nurse practitioner, or a court of competent jurisdiction, must review the decision and determine that it is consistent with such standards for surrogate decisions. This requirement shall not apply to decisions about routine medical treatment. Such decisions shall be governed by subdivision three of this section.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03525-01-9
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 decisions about routine medical treatment for hospice patients without a surrogate decision maker
Purpose of general idea of bill
To clarify that decisions about routine care for hospice patients with- out a surrogate decision maker do not require prior review by a n Ethics Review Committee, and are governed by the provisions in the Family Health Care Decisions Act.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends PHL § 2994-g(5-a), which requires review by an Ethics Review Committee of health care decisions for hospice patients who do not have a surrogate decision maker, to provide that such requirement shall not apply to decisions about routine medical treatment, and that such decisions shall be governed by PHL § 2994-g(3).
Section 2 provides for an immediate effective date.
Justification
The Family Health Care Decisions Act (FHCDA), in PHL § 2994-(g), estab- lishes a process to obtain health care decisions for patients who lack capacity and do not have a health care agent or surrogate decision maker - so called "isolated patients." Under that section, the attending physician may order "routine medical treatment," while more extensive processes and standards apply to decisions about "major medical treat- ment" and "decisions to withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment."
That section defines "routine medical treatment" as: any treatment, service, or procedure to diagnose or treat an individual's physical or mental condition, such as the administration of medication, the extraction of bodily fluids for analysis, or dental care performed. with a local anesthetic, for which health care providers ordinarily do not seek specific consent from the patient or authorized representative.
In 2016, the FHCDA was amended to address decisions regarding hospice care, including enrollment in hospice, for incapable isolated patients. The process requires, among other steps, review by a facility-based Ethics Review Committee (ERC). Once admitted to hospice, changes in the isolated hospice patient's plan of care also require ERC review.
Commentators have noted that changes in the plan of care involving even routine medical treatment, such as drawing blood, would seem to require ERC review (Decisions Regarding Hospice Care for. Isolated Patients: A Guide to the 2015 Amendment of the Family Health Care Decisions Act, NYSBA Health Law Journal (Winter 2016) Such requirement is far more cumbersome than is needed for decisions about minor treatments, and would impede the prompt provision of medically necessary care. The bill clarifies that the general FHCDA provisions relating to decisions about routine medical treatment apply to isolated hospice patients as well as other patients.
Prior legislative history
New Bill
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
The act will take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.