STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 814 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to organ donation registration through a patient-facing portal; and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the public health law relating to allow- ing patients to register in the "donate life registry" through their electronic health records, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 8456 and A. 7079, in relation to the effectiveness thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (w) of subdivision 1 of section 206 of the public 2 health law, as added by a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the 3 public health law relating to allowing patients to register in the 4 "donate life registry" through their electronic health records, as 5 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 8456 and A. 7079, is amended to 6 read as follows: 7 (w) require that every electronic health record vendor include and 8 integrate components into their electronic health record products imple- 9 mented for general hospitals in the state regulated under article twen- 10 ty-eight of this chapter in such a manner to allow patients to register 11 directly in the New York state "donate life registry" for organ, eye and 12 tissue donations as provided for under section forty-three hundred ten 13 of this chapter. Such registration shall be via a patient-facing portal, 14 provided that, to protect patient confidentiality and prevent conflicts 15 of interest, such electronic health record products do not retain or 16 store patients' donor status information, and provided, further, that 17 such electronic health record products meet standards as may be estab- 18 lished by the commissioner, including, but not limited to, a standard- 19 ized question allowing direct enrollment in the donate life registry and 20 required data elements. Electronic health record vendors shall provide EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02858-01-5
S. 814 2 1 the integration of such elements without additional cost under this 2 paragraph as a component of either existing or new implementations of 3 their electronic health record products. Patient facing elements of 4 these [requirements] products shall include opportunities for patients 5 to directly register in the "donate life registry" for organ, eye and 6 tissue donations as a component of such elements. 7 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 5 of section 4310 of the public 8 health law, as amended by section 2 of a chapter of the laws of 2024 9 amending the public health law relating to allowing patients to register 10 in the "donate life registry" through their electronic health records, 11 as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 8456 and A. 7079, is amended 12 to read as follows 13 (a) Such organ, eye and tissue registration of consent to make an 14 anatomical gift can be made through: (i) indication made on the applica- 15 tion or renewal form of a driver's license, (ii) indication made on a 16 non-driver identification card application or renewal form, (iii) indi- 17 cation made on a voter registration form pursuant to subdivision five of 18 section 5-210 of the election law, (iv) indication made on the applica- 19 tion for, or manual renewal application by an account holder of, health 20 care coverage offered through the state health benefit exchange, (v) 21 enrollment through the donate life registry website, (vi) paper enroll- 22 ment submitted to the donate life registry, (vii) indication made on the 23 application or renewal form of a hunting, fishing or trapping license 24 issued pursuant to title seven of article eleven of the environmental 25 conservation law, (viii) indication made on transactions administered by 26 the office of temporary and disability assistance through the mybene- 27 fits.ny.gov website, or any such successor website; (ix) indication made 28 on applications, renewals or related transactions for college financial 29 aid, grants, or scholarships offered or administered through any website 30 maintained by the higher education services corporation; (x) [indication 31 made on] transactions conducted through the patient-facing portal of an 32 individual's electronic health records; or (xi) through any other method 33 identified by the commissioner. The department shall establish a means 34 by which to register the consent given by individuals who are sixteen or 35 seventeen years of age in the donate life registry, and shall make 36 registration available by any of the methods provided in subparagraphs 37 (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x) and (xi) of 38 this paragraph. 39 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 5 of section 4310 of the public 40 health law, as amended by section 3 of a chapter of the laws of 2024 41 amending the public health law relating to allowing patients to register 42 in the "donate life registry" through their electronic health records, 43 as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 8456 and A. 7079, is amended 44 to read as follows: 45 (a) Such organ, eye and tissue registration of consent to make an 46 anatomical gift can be made through: (i) indication made on the applica- 47 tion or renewal form of a driver's license, (ii) indication made on a 48 non-driver identification card application or renewal form, (iii) indi- 49 cation made on a voter registration form pursuant to subdivision five of 50 section 5-210 of the election law, (iv) indication made on the applica- 51 tion for, or manual renewal application by an account holder of, health 52 care coverage offered through the NY State of Health, the official 53 Health Plan Marketplace, (v) enrollment through the donate life registry 54 website, (vi) paper enrollment submitted to the donate life registry, 55 (vii) indication made on the application or renewal form of a hunting, 56 fishing or trapping license issued pursuant to title seven of article
S. 814 3 1 eleven of the environmental conservation law, (viii) indication made on 2 transactions administered by the office of temporary and disability 3 assistance through the mybenefits.ny.gov website, or any such successor 4 website; (ix) indication made on applications, renewals or related tran- 5 sactions for college financial aid, grants, or scholarships offered or 6 administered through any website maintained by the higher education 7 services corporation; (x) indication made by an insured and/or applicant 8 for insurance during enrollments, renewals, and the initial process for 9 an insured in setting up an online member service portal with their 10 insurer for accident and health insurance policies and contracts issued 11 pursuant to article forty-four of this chapter, article forty-two of the 12 insurance law, or article forty-three of the insurance law, excepting 13 renewals made through the NY State of Health, the official Health Plan 14 Marketplace, other than those specifically referenced in subparagraph 15 (iv) of this paragraph and paragraph (v) of subdivision one of section 16 two hundred six of this chapter; and provided, however, that nothing in 17 this section shall apply to the medical assistance program under title 18 eleven of article five of the social services law; (xi) [indication made 19 on] transactions conducted through the patient-facing portal of an indi- 20 vidual's electronic health record; or (xii) through any other method 21 identified by the commissioner. The department shall establish a means 22 by which to register the consent given by individuals who are sixteen or 23 seventeen years of age in the donate life registry, and shall make 24 registration available by any of the methods provided in subparagraphs 25 (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi) and 26 (xii) of this paragraph. 27 § 4. Section 6 of a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the public 28 health law relating to allowing patients to register in the "donate life 29 registry" through their electronic health records, as proposed in legis- 30 lative bills numbers S. 8456 and A. 7079, is amended to read as follows: 31 § 6. This act shall take effect [on the first of January next succeed- 32 ing the date on which] two years after it shall have become a law; 33 provided, however, that effective immediately any donor registrations 34 made through electronic health records shall be transmitted to the New 35 York state "donate life registry"; and provided, further, however, that 36 if chapter 758 of the laws of 2022 shall not have taken effect on or 37 before such date then sections three and five of this act shall take 38 effect on the same date and in the same manner as such chapter of the 39 laws of 2022 takes effect. Effective immediately, the commissioner of 40 health is authorized to take any actions necessary to implement the 41 provisions of this act on or before its effective date. 42 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that sections 43 one, two and three of this act shall take effect on the same date and in 44 the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the public 45 health law relating to allowing patients to register in the "donate life 46 registry" through their electronic health records, as proposed in legis- 47 lative bills numbers S. 8456 and A. 7079, takes effect.