Bill Text: NY S06071 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Increases monetary penalties for public health law violations; provides support for the nursing home quality improvement demonstration program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO HEALTH [S06071 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S06071-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6071

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     March 28, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Health

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to  increasing  mone-
          tary  penalties for public health law violations and providing support
          for the nursing home quality improvement demonstration program

          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 12 of the public health law, as
     2  amended by section 16 of part A of chapter 58 of the laws  of  2008,  is
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    1.  (a)  Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subdivi-
     5  sion, any person who  violates,  disobeys  or  disregards  any  term  or
     6  provision  of  this chapter or of any lawful notice, order or regulation
     7  pursuant thereto for which a civil penalty is  not  otherwise  expressly
     8  prescribed  by  law,  shall  be  liable to the people of the state for a
     9  civil penalty of not to exceed [two] three thousand  dollars  for  every
    10  such  violation.  Where the violation is committed by an operator or any
    11  person or entity that contracts with an operator of a  nursing  home  or
    12  general  hospital  under article twenty-eight of this chapter or a resi-
    13  dential care program for adults authorized to operate by the  department
    14  under  article  seven  of the social services law, the penalty shall not
    15  exceed five thousand dollars for every such violation.
    16    (b) The penalty provided for in paragraph (a) of this subdivision  may
    17  be  increased to an amount not to exceed [five] ten thousand dollars for
    18  a subsequent violation if the person committed the same violation,  with
    19  respect to the same or any other person or persons, within twelve months
    20  of  the  initial  violation for which a penalty was assessed pursuant to
    21  paragraph (a) of this subdivision and said  violations  were  a  serious
    22  threat to the health and safety of an individual or individuals.
    23    (c)  The penalty provided for in paragraph (a) of this subdivision may
    24  be increased to an amount not to exceed [ten] twenty thousand dollars if

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09071-01-3
        S. 6071                             2

     1  the violation directly results in serious physical harm to  any  patient
     2  or patients.
     3    (d)  Effective  on and after April first, two thousand eight the comp-
     4  troller is hereby authorized and directed to deposit amounts, except  as
     5  provided  by  paragraph  (e) of this subdivision, collected in excess of
     6  two thousand dollars per violation to the patient safety center  account
     7  to  be  used  for purposes of the patient safety center created by title
     8  two of article twenty-nine-D of this chapter.
     9    (e) Amounts collected from an operator  of  a  nursing  home  licensed
    10  under  article  twenty-eight  of  this chapter in excess of ten thousand
    11  dollars per violation may be transferred as determined  by  the  commis-
    12  sioner to the nursing home quality improvement demonstration program, to
    13  be used under subdivision six of section twenty-eight hundred eight-d of
    14  this  chapter  in  support of   projects or programs designed to improve
    15  specific areas of quality of care.
    16    § 2. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 1  of  section  309  of  the  public
    17  health law, as amended by chapter 193 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
    18  read as follows:
    19    (f)  prescribe and impose penalties for the violation of or failure to
    20  comply with any of its orders or regulations, or any of the  regulations
    21  of  the  state sanitary code, not exceeding [two] three thousand dollars
    22  for a single violation or failure, to be sued for and recovered by it in
    23  any court of competent jurisdiction; and
    24    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the  amend-
    25  ments  to  subdivision  1 of section 12 of the public health law made by
    26  section one of this act shall not affect the expiration of such subdivi-
    27  sion and shall be deemed to expire therewith.