STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5828 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 26, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT to establish a Minority Coordinating Council on Asthmatic Affairs The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "Lydia Soto law". 3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. According to the American Lung 4 Association, there are over 1.6 million New Yorkers with asthma, with 5 over 380,000 of them being children. The annual cost of asthma is esti- 6 mated to be nearly 18 billion dollars. Access to health care for ethnic 7 minorities is often hampered by socio-economic disparities, shortages of 8 primary care physicians in minority communities, language and literacy 9 barriers, and cultural beliefs about the role and usefulness of medi- 10 cines. There have emerged clear disparities in the burden and treatment 11 of asthma in the communities of ethnic minorities. The burden of asthma 12 falls disproportionately on the African-American and Hispanic popu- 13 lations, and especially on children of these ethnic minorities. There- 14 fore, it is the intent of this legislature to create a coordinating 15 council to address these issues and to improve awareness and management 16 of asthma prevention and treatment for minorities in this state. 17 § 3. The commissioner of health shall establish a Minority Coordinat- 18 ing Council on Asthmatic Affairs. Members of the council shall include 19 the commissioners of health, environmental conservation, office of chil- 20 dren and family services, and the division of housing and community 21 renewal or their designees. The council shall also include, as deter- 22 mined by the commissioner of health, representatives of minority and 23 low-income communities, health care professionals with knowledge and 24 experience in the prevention and treatment of asthma, and community 25 groups that advocate for environmental justice issues. The council shall 26 be tasked with: (a) assessing the asthma risk factors for the minority EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02970-03-1

A. 5828 2 1 residents of this state, broken down by county and regions; (b) identi- 2 fying existing barriers to quality asthma treatment and care among 3 racial and ethnic minorities; (c) developing evidence-based intervention 4 strategies for addressing the lack of health care in these communities; 5 and (d) launching a state-wide asthma awareness campaign to educate 6 citizens about the disease, its symptoms, and the ability to better 7 manage asthma through prevention and treatment. The council shall deliv- 8 er an annual report addressing various asthma program successes, new 9 trends, data and issues surrounding minority populations suffering from 10 asthma to the governor and the legislature beginning September 1, 2025, 11 and annually thereafter. 12 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

Enacts the "Lydia Soto law"

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