STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9733 IN ASSEMBLY February 2, 2018 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. RICHARDSON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to maternal mortality reporting and advancement of best practices; and in relation to providing information on possible complications from pregnancy The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2 2509 to read as follows: 3 § 2509. Maternal mortality reporting and advancement of best prac- 4 tices. 1. For purposes of this section, the term "maternal mortality" 5 means the cessation of respiration and circulation for a woman during or 6 up to a year from the end of pregnancy, from any cause related to or 7 aggravated by the pregnancy or its management. 8 2. The department shall work with stakeholders and experts in the 9 state and other states to examine procedures found to reduce maternal 10 mortality rates, and based on its findings develop evidence-based quali- 11 ty improvement procedures that maternal care providers can implement to 12 prevent maternal mortality. 13 3. The department shall work with providers to ensure the adoption of 14 procedures pursuant to subdivision two of this section and shall track 15 the percentage of maternal care providers that have adopted such proce- 16 dures. 17 4. No later than November thirtieth, two thousand eighteen, and not 18 later than November thirtieth annually thereafter, the department shall 19 submit to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary 20 president of the senate and the respective chairpersons of the assembly 21 and senate health committees a report on the development and adoption of 22 procedures to reduce maternal mortality, the rate of adoption of these 23 procedures by providers in the state, and the effect these procedures 24 have had on the maternal mortality rate in the state. 25 5. The report shall include data available regarding maternal mortal- 26 ity in the state including, but not limited to: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14469-01-8A. 9733 2 1 (a) the number of maternal mortalities, disaggregated by race or 2 ethnicity and county; and 3 (b) the maternal mortality ratio, disaggregated by race or ethnicity 4 and county where available and statistically reliable. 5 6. The department shall publish the disaggregated maternal mortality 6 data collected pursuant to subdivision five of this section as part of 7 its maternal and infant health indicators, to the extent such data is 8 available to the department. 9 § 2. Subdivision 1-b of section 2803-j of the public health law, as 10 amended by chapter 199 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as 11 follows: 12 1-b. The informational leaflet shall also include information relating 13 to the physical and mental health of the maternity patient after 14 discharge from the hospital, including, but not limited to, information 15 about maternal depression and information on possible complications from 16 pregnancy that can lead to death. The commissioner, in collaboration 17 with the commissioner of mental health, shall review and update the 18 information on maternal depression contained in the leaflet, as neces- 19 sary. The informational leaflets shall be made available to patients in 20 the top six languages spoken in the state, other than English, according 21 to the latest available data from the United States Census Bureau. 22 § 3. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 2803-n of the public 23 health law, as amended by chapter 199 of the laws of 2014, is amended to 24 read as follows: 25 (b) Maternity care shall also include, at minimum, parent education, 26 assistance and training in breast or bottle feeding, education on mater- 27 nal depression, education on maternal depression screening and refer- 28 rals, including screenings and referrals to identify conditions identi- 29 fied as presenting a serious threat to the life of the mother in the 30 year after pregnancy, and the performance of any necessary maternal and 31 newborn clinical assessments. Notwithstanding this requirement, nothing 32 in this paragraph is intended to result in the hospital charging any 33 amount for such services in addition to the applicable charge for the 34 maternity inpatient hospital admission. 35 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 36 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or 37 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of 38 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed 39 on or before such effective date.