New York Assembly Bill A01541 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1541--A 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, BURDICK, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, SIMON, WOERNER, FORREST, SAYEGH, KELLES, JACOBSON, EPSTEIN, LEVENBERG, CLARK, REYES, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, ZINERMAN, ZACCARO, ROZIC, LEE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing the cesarean births review board 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 2500-n to read as follows: 3 § 2500-n. Cesarean births review board. 1. There is hereby established 4 in the department the cesarean births review board, hereinafter referred 5 to as the "board". The members of the board shall be comprised of 6 experts in the fields of maternal mortality, maternal health, and public 7 health. The appointment of any member of the board shall be based in 8 part on the objective of ensuring that the board includes experts who 9 are representative of the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of 10 the birthing people of the state. 11 2. The board should be composed of fourteen members which shall 12 include eight members to be appointed by the governor as follows: two 13 licensed midwives in the state; two licensed and registered nurses 14 specializing in obstetrics in the state; two physicians specializing in 15 obstetrics and gynecology licensed and registered to practice in the 16 state; and two representatives of a women's maternal health organization 17 that operates in the state; and six additional members, two appointed on 18 the recommendation of the temporary president of the senate, two 19 appointed on the recommendation of the speaker of the assembly, one 20 appointed on the recommendation of the minority leader of the senate, 21 and one appointed on the recommendation of the minority leader of the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04471-02-5 
 A. 1541--A 2 1 assembly. The governor shall designate the commissioner, or their 2 designee, as chair of the board. Members of the board shall receive no 3 compensation for their services but may be reimbursed for necessary and 4 actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties hereunder. 5 3. The board shall undertake a review of cesarean births at hospitals 6 in the state. The board shall issue a final report and make recommenda- 7 tions to reduce the rate of cesarean births in the state. The board 8 shall consider factors including, but not limited to: 9 (a) the primary and repeat cesarean birth rates among hospitals in the 10 state; 11 (b) the hospitals in the state that allow or encourage vaginal births 12 after cesarean births; 13 (c) the rate of vaginal births after cesarean births among hospitals 14 in the state; 15 (d) the rate of vaginal births after cesarean births that were offered 16 by hospitals in the state but declined by the birthing person; 17 (e) the rate of vaginal births after cesarean births that were 18 attempted but failed among hospitals in the state; 19 (f) the time of day unplanned cesarean births occur in hospitals, and 20 whether such correlates with the rate of cesarean births in a hospital; 21 (g) the number of birthing people who elect to have midwives attend 22 labor and delivery in hospitals in the state; 23 (h) the frequency of midwifery care during labor in hospitals across 24 the state and what impact, if any, this has on the rate of cesarean 25 births; and 26 (i) the number of birthing people who were informed by their health 27 care provider about the potential risks, benefits, and alternatives 28 related to cesarean births before labor. 29 4. The board may request and shall receive upon request from any 30 department, division, board, bureau, commission, local health depart- 31 ments or any other agency in the state or political subdivision thereof 32 or any public authority, such information, including but not limited to 33 medical records, birth records, and any other information that will help 34 the department under this section to properly carry out its functions, 35 powers and duties. 36 5. The board shall, within eighteen months of convening, issue a final 37 report on its findings and recommendations to the governor, speaker of 38 the assembly, and temporary president of the senate. The board shall 39 post a copy of such report on the department's website. 40 6. The board shall keep confidential any information collected or 41 received under this section that includes personal identifying informa- 42 tion of the birthing person, health care practitioner or practitioners 43 or anyone else individually named in such information, as well as the 44 hospital or facility that treated the birthing person, and any other 45 information such as geographic location that may inadvertently identify 46 the birthing person, practitioner or facility, and shall use the infor- 47 mation provided or received under this section solely for the purposes 48 of improvement of the quality of maternal health care. 49 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.