Bill Text: NY S02039 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Directs the commissioner of health, in consultation with the office of mental health and other relevant stakeholders, to develop guidance and standards for routine maternal depression screenings, referrals, diagnosis and treatment, and to provide training and materials on issues related to maternal depression.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-2)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-01-23 - returned to senate [S02039 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S02039-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         2039--B
            Cal. No. 96

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 18, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sens. BROUK, ADDABBO, CLEARE, COONEY, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM,
          HOYLMAN-SIGAL,  KENNEDY,  MYRIE,  PERSAUD,  SALAZAR, SANDERS, SKOUFIS,
          WEIK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be commit-
          ted to the Committee on Women's Issues -- recommitted to the Committee
          on Women's Issues in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --  commit-
          tee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
          mitted to said committee -- reported favorably  from  said  committee,
          ordered  to first and second report, amended on second report, ordered
          to a third reading, and to be  reprinted  as  amended,  retaining  its
          place in the order of third reading

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public  health  law,  in  relation  to maternal
          depression screenings

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Subdivision 1 of section 2500-k of the public health law,
     2  as added by chapter 199 of the laws of  2014,  is  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    1. Definitions. As used in this section:
     5    (a)  "Maternal depression" means a wide range of emotional and psycho-
     6  logical reactions  [a  woman]  an  individual  may  experience  [during]
     7  throughout  pregnancy  [or  after childbirth] and the postpartum period.
     8  These reactions may include, but are not limited to, feelings of despair
     9  or extreme guilt, prolonged sadness, lack of energy, difficulty  concen-
    10  trating,  fatigue,  extreme changes in appetite, and thoughts of suicide
    11  or of  harming  the  baby.  Maternal  depression  may  include  prenatal
    12  depression, perinatal mood and anxiety disorder, the "baby blues," post-
    13  partum depression, or postpartum psychosis[-- the severest form].
    14    (b)  "Maternal health care provider" means a physician, midwife, nurse
    15  practitioner, or physician assistant, or other health care  practitioner
    16  acting within his or her lawful scope of practice, attending a [pregnant
    17  woman  or a woman up to one year after childbirth] perinatal individual,

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03810-04-4

        S. 2039--B                          2

     1  including [a] any  practitioner  attending  the  [woman's]  individual's
     2  child, from conception up to one year [after childbirth] postpartum.
     3    §  2. Subdivisions 3 and 4 of section 2500-k of the public health law,
     4  subdivision 4 as renumbered by chapter 463 of  the  laws  of  2017,  are
     5  renumbered subdivisions 4 and 5 and a new subdivision 3 is added to read
     6  as follows:
     7    3.  Maternal depression screenings. (a) The commissioner, in consulta-
     8  tion with the office of mental health, and other relevant  stakeholders,
     9  shall  develop  and  publish  guidance  and  standards for incorporating
    10  maternal depression screenings into routine perinatal care.  This  guid-
    11  ance  shall  include,  but  not  be limited to, recommendations and best
    12  practices related to:
    13    (i) when maternal  health  care  providers  should  initiate  maternal
    14  depression  screenings  and how often such screenings should be repeated
    15  throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period;
    16    (ii) screening for  social  needs  that  may  contribute  to  maternal
    17  depression  such  as social support, intimate partner violence, food and
    18  housing insecurity,  diaper  insecurity,  and  barriers  to  appropriate
    19  healthcare;
    20    (iii) screening for substance use disorders;
    21    (iv)  referrals  for  appropriate follow-up evaluation, diagnosis, and
    22  treatment; and
    23    (v) reimbursement methodologies to incentivize provider participation.
    24    (b) The commissioner,  in  consultation  with  the  office  of  mental
    25  health,  and other relevant stakeholders, shall identify existing infor-
    26  mation and training programs designed  to  support  maternal  depression
    27  screening  and  treatment, and publish the links to such information and
    28  training programs on the department's website. The  identified  informa-
    29  tion and training programs shall include the following topics:
    30    (i) health equity;
    31    (ii) implicit bias and cultural competency;
    32    (iii) screening, referral and treatment options;
    33    (iv) patient resources and available services;
    34    (v) patients' rights;
    35    (vi) pharmacotherapy;
    36    (vii) trauma-informed, patient-centered care; and
    37    (viii) other topics as identified by the commissioner.
    38    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    39  it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
    40  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    41  tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
    42  completed on or before such effective date.
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