Bill Text: NY S00410 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Establishes a Minority Coordinating Council on Asthmatic Affairs within the department of health to assess the asthma risk factors for the minority citizens of our state, counties and regions; identifies the existing barriers to quality asthma treatment and care among minorities; develops action steps for addressing care issues; launches a state-wide asthma awareness campaign to educate our citizens about the disease; requires report.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2022-11-23 - VETOED MEMO.69 [S00410 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S00410-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           410

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 6, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed 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. The commissioner shall appoint as many
    19  members  as  he  or  she  determines  appropriate. Such members shall be
    20  representative of those regions of the state with  significant  minority
    21  populations  and  shall include health care professionals with knowledge
    22  and experience in the prevention and treatment  of  asthma  and  in  the
    23  areas  of  public health care funding. The council shall be tasked with:
    24  (a) assessing the asthma risk factors for the minority citizens of  this
    25  state,  its  counties and regions; (b) identifying the existing barriers

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02970-01-1
        S. 410                              2

     1  to quality asthma treatment and care among  minorities;  (c)  developing
     2  action  steps for addressing care issues; and (d) launching a state-wide
     3  asthma awareness campaign to educate citizens  about  the  disease,  its
     4  symptoms, and the ability to better manage asthma through prevention and
     5  treatment. The council shall deliver an annual report addressing various
     6  asthma program successes, new trends, data and issues surrounding minor-
     7  ity  populations  suffering from asthma to the governor and the legisla-
     8  ture beginning September 1, 2025, and annually thereafter.
     9    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.