Bill Text: NY A02770 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Enacts the Jonah Bichotte Cowan Law; relates to pre-term labor care and directs the commissioner of health to require hospitals to provide pre-term labor patients with information regarding the potential health effects of pre-term labor and pre-term delivery on an expectant mother and on her fetus.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-12-22 - approval memo.52 [A02770 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A02770-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Enacts the Jonah Bichotte Cowan Law; relates to pre-term labor care and directs the commissioner of health to require hospitals to provide pre-term labor patients with information regarding the potential health effects of pre-term labor and pre-term delivery on an expectant mother and on her fetus.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-12-22 - approval memo.52 [A02770 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A02770-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2770 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 25, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BICHOTTE, SOLAGES, JEAN-PIERRE, BARRON, WALKER, THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the Jonah Bichotte Cowan law relating to pre-term labor care and directing the commissioner of health to require hospitals to provide pre-term labor patients with information regarding the potential health effects of pre-term labor and pre-term delivery on an expectant mother and on her unborn child; and to amend the insurance law, in relation to requiring insurance policies to provide coverage for pre-term labor hospitaliza- tions 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 "Jonah Bichotte Cowan law". 3 § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2509 to 4 read as follows: 5 § 2509. Pre-term labor care. 1. When an expectant mother in pre-term 6 labor presents herself at a hospital, the hospital shall: 7 (a) determine that the expectant mother is in pre-term labor by estab- 8 lishing that she is experiencing regular uterine contractions causing 9 palpable changes in the cervix prior to twenty-four weeks of gestation; 10 (b) upon making the diagnosis of pre-term labor, admit the expectant 11 mother to the hospital or treat her in the emergency room for close 12 observation and continuous monitoring until it is deemed medically safe 13 to release her from the health care facility; and 14 (c) provide the expectant mother with information concerning pre-term 15 labor and the potential health effects of pre-term labor and pre-term 16 delivery on the mother and on her unborn child. 17 2. If the expectant mother opts not to remain at the hospital, hospi- 18 tal personnel shall inform the expectant mother of the option of having 19 a visiting nurse periodically monitor the expectant mother at her home EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00398-01-9A. 2770 2 1 and, if requested to do so by the expectant mother, shall arrange for 2 such monitoring and shall arrange for the expectant mother and her fami- 3 ly to have access to a therapist to assist with their emotional needs 4 during the period of pre-term labor. 5 3. As used in this section: 6 (a) "Hospital" means a hospital as defined in section twenty-eight 7 hundred one of this chapter; and 8 (b) (i) "Pre-term labor" means the commencement of regular 9 contractions of the uterus causing palpable changes in the cervix that 10 start between twenty weeks and thirty-seven weeks of pregnancy. Such 11 changes in the cervix include, but are not limited to, effacement and 12 dilation. 13 (ii) "Pre-term labor" does not include labor resulting in a miscar- 14 riage which occurs prior to twenty weeks of pregnancy. 15 § 3. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2803-w 16 to read as follows: 17 § 2803-w. Information for pre-term labor patients. 1. The commissioner 18 shall require every hospital to: 19 (a) prepare in printed or photocopied form an informational leaflet 20 concerning pre-term labor and the potential health effects of pre-term 21 labor and pre-term delivery on an expectant mother and on her unborn 22 child; and 23 (b) distribute such leaflet to any expectant mother who presents 24 herself at the hospital in pre-term labor, and, upon request, to the 25 general public, an informational leaflet. 26 2. The leaflet described in subdivision one of this section shall be 27 designed by the commissioner and shall contain brief definitions or 28 descriptions of pre-term labor and pre-term delivery, information 29 regarding the risks pre-term labor and pre-term delivery pose to the 30 mother and child and such other materials as deemed appropriate by the 31 commissioner. Hospitals may also elect to distribute additional explan- 32 atory material along with the maternity patients information leaflet. 33 The commissioner shall make the information contained in the leaflet 34 available on the department's website. 35 3. The informational leaflet shall also include an explanation of the 36 special provisions relating to pre-term labor and pre-term delivery care 37 and coverage under the insurance law, and suggest that expectant parents 38 check their insurance policies for the details of their pre-term labor 39 and pre-term delivery coverage. 40 § 4. Item (i) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph 10 of subsection (i) of 41 section 3216 of the insurance law, as amended by chapter 238 of the laws 42 of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 43 (i) Every policy which provides hospital, surgical or medical coverage 44 shall provide coverage for maternity care, including hospital, surgical 45 or medical care to the same extent that hospital, surgical or medical 46 coverage is provided for illness or disease under the policy. Such 47 maternity care coverage, other than coverage for perinatal compli- 48 cations, shall include inpatient hospital coverage for expectant mothers 49 in pre-term labor, inpatient hospital coverage for mother and for 50 newborn for at least forty-eight hours after childbirth for any delivery 51 other than a caesarean section, and for at least ninety-six hours after 52 a caesarean section. Such coverage for maternity care shall include the 53 services of a midwife licensed pursuant to article one hundred forty of 54 the education law, practicing consistent with section sixty-nine hundred 55 fifty-one of the education law and affiliated or practicing in conjunc- 56 tion with a facility licensed pursuant to article twenty-eight of theA. 2770 3 1 public health law, but no insurer shall be required to pay for duplica- 2 tive routine services actually provided by both a licensed midwife and a 3 physician. 4 § 5. Item (i) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph 5 of subsection (k) of 5 section 3221 of the insurance law, as amended by chapter 238 of the laws 6 of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 7 (i) Every group or blanket policy delivered or issued for delivery in 8 this state which provides hospital, surgical or medical coverage shall 9 include coverage for maternity care, including hospital, surgical or 10 medical care to the same extent that coverage is provided for illness or 11 disease under the policy. Such maternity care coverage, other than 12 coverage for perinatal complications, shall include inpatient hospital 13 coverage for expectant mothers in pre-term labor, inpatient hospital 14 coverage for mother and newborn for at least forty-eight hours after 15 childbirth for any delivery other than a caesarean section, and for at 16 least ninety-six hours after a caesarean section. Such coverage for 17 maternity care shall include the services of a midwife licensed pursuant 18 to article one hundred forty of the education law, practicing consistent 19 with section sixty-nine hundred fifty-one of the education law and 20 affiliated or practicing in conjunction with a facility licensed pursu- 21 ant to article twenty-eight of the public health law, but no insurer 22 shall be required to pay for duplicative routine services actually 23 provided by both a licensed midwife and a physician. 24 § 6. Subparagraph (A) of paragraph 1 of subsection (c) of section 4303 25 of the insurance law, as amended by chapter 238 of the laws of 2010, is 26 amended to read as follows: 27 (A) Every contract issued by a corporation subject to the provisions 28 of this article which provides hospital service, medical expense indem- 29 nity or both shall provide coverage for maternity care including hospi- 30 tal, surgical or medical care to the same extent that hospital service, 31 medical expense indemnity or both are provided for illness or disease 32 under the contract. Such maternity care coverage, other than coverage 33 for perinatal complications, shall include inpatient hospital coverage 34 for expectant mothers in pre-term labor, inpatient hospital coverage for 35 mother and for newborn for at least forty-eight hours after childbirth 36 for any delivery other than a caesarean section, and for at least nine- 37 ty-six hours following a caesarean section. Such coverage for maternity 38 care shall include the services of a midwife licensed pursuant to arti- 39 cle one hundred forty of the education law, practicing consistent with 40 section sixty-nine hundred fifty-one of the education law and affiliated 41 or practicing in conjunction with a facility licensed pursuant to arti- 42 cle twenty-eight of the public health law, but no insurer shall be 43 required to pay for duplicative routine services actually provided by 44 both a licensed midwife and a physician. 45 § 7. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 46 have become a law. Effective immediately the addition, amendment and/or 47 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of 48 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made on or before 49 such date.
