Bill Text: NY A08988 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to the appointment of members of the rural health council by the governor and requires the health council to make certain recommendations to the department of health.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-13 - substituted by s7329 [A08988 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A08988-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          8988
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     January 9, 2018
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. JONES -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Health
        AN ACT to amend the public health law,  in  relation  to  requiring  the
          governor  to  appoint  the  members  of  the  rural health council and
          requiring the rural health council to make certain recommendations  to
          the department of health
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Section 236-b of the public health law, as added by a chap-
     2  ter of the laws of 2017, amending the public  health  law,  relating  to
     3  establishing  a  rural  health council, as proposed in legislative bills
     4  numbers S.4741 and A.7203, is amended to read as follows:
     5    § 236-b. Rural health council. 1. There shall  be  established  within
     6  the  office  a rural health council to be composed of twenty-one members
     7  who shall be appointed by  the  governor,  with  ten  of  these  members
     8  appointed as follows:
     9    a.  [five]  four members [by] upon the recommendation of the temporary
    10  president of the senate;
    11    b. [two members by] one member upon the recommendation of the minority
    12  leader of the senate;
    13    c. [five] four members [by] upon the recommendation of the speaker  of
    14  the assembly; and
    15    d. [two members by] one member upon the recommendation of the minority
    16  leader of the assembly[; and
    17    e. seven members by the governor].
    18    Vacancies  in  the  membership  of such council shall be filled by the
    19  appropriate appointing authority. The [rural  health  council]  governor
    20  shall  select a chairperson from among [its] the members of the council.
    21  The members of the council shall be  reflective  of  the  state's  rural
    22  areas,  as  defined in subdivision seven of section four hundred eighty-
    23  one of the executive law, and shall include  representatives  of  health
    24  care  providers  that  comprise  the  health care delivery system in the
    25  state's rural areas, individuals with expertise in clinical and adminis-
    26  trative aspects of health  care  delivery,  health  care  financing  and
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10087-05-8
        A. 8988                             2
     1  reimbursement,  health  care regulation, public health, health planning,
     2  health workforce education, and behavioral health.
     3    2.  The  rural  health  council  shall be responsible for advising the
     4  commissioner with respect to all aspects of rural health care and  rural
     5  health  care  delivery  including,  but  not  limited  to, the impact of
     6  proposed programs, statutes, regulations and health  care  reimbursement
     7  policies. The rural health council shall also assist the office with its
     8  responsibilities as delineated in section two hundred thirty-six of this
     9  title;  contribute  to  the biennial report required pursuant to section
    10  two hundred thirty-seven of this title, and act as liaison and  advocate
    11  on rural health matters.
    12    3.    The rural health council shall recommend to the department cost-
    13  effective ways to obtain timely data on the status of  the  health  care
    14  workforce  supply  in  rural areas. At least [annually] once every three
    15  years the rural health council shall, in conjunction  with  the  office,
    16  submit  a  report  to  the regional economic development councils on the
    17  status of the health care workforce supply in their  respective  regions
    18  to the extent data on the health care workforce supply is available.
    19    4. Staff support for the rural health council shall be provided for by
    20  the  office  as  provided  for in section two hundred thirty-six of this
    21  title.
    22    5. The rural health council shall meet as frequently as  its  business
    23  may  require, but not less than two times a year. Meetings may be called
    24  by the [chairman or] chairperson at the request of the commissioner.
    25    6. The entirety of each meeting of the rural health council  shall  be
    26  live  webcast to the public on the department's website, and archived on
    27  the department's website, for a period of no less than two years, within
    28  twenty-four hours of the adjournment of the last meeting. The department
    29  shall provide notice to the public, via the department's website, of the
    30  availability of the live webcast of each such meeting.
    31    7. The members of the rural health council shall  receive  no  compen-
    32  sation  for their services, but shall be allowed their actual and neces-
    33  sary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties hereunder.
    34    § 2. This act shall take effect on the  same  date  and  in  the  same
    35  manner as a chapter of the laws of 2017, amending the public health law,
    36  relating to establishing a rural health council, as proposed in legisla-
    37  tive bills numbers S.4741 and A.7203, takes effect.