Hinchey bill to identify health care deserts passes state Senate

The Hospital Transparency Act, sponsored by state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-41, would require the New York state Department of Health to annually collect and publish policy-based exclusions from all general hospitals in New York state.

A policy-based inclusion refers to health care services which hospitals are licensed to deliver but choose not to provide. Policy-based inclusions in recent years have included gender-affirming care, reproductive care, and end-of-life care.

The bill would require the hospitals to disclose the exclusions as part of its Patient’s Bill of Rights, and the Department of Health would have to publicly report on the impact of service denials.

Columbia Memorial Health spokesman William Van Slyke did not immediately respond to inquiries about the legislation.

The reports released by the Department of Health would also have to focus on variations in access based on community, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

“New Yorkers need to know what health care services are available at their local hospital and whether essential services like reproductive care have been removed from their community due to hospital policies,” said Hinchey. “My bill, the Hospital Transparency Act, will finally confront the alarming wave of disappearing services we’ve seen in recent years and help us shed light on the health care deserts they’ve created, which significantly impact rural communities where access to health care has always been limited.”

Other legislation passed by the state Senate during Monday’s session include a bill prohibiting the sale of menstrual products containing carcinogenic substances, and a bill establishing the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Grant Program to ensure access to reproductive care in the state.

The grant program will allocate funds to reproductive health providers, and nonprofits whose main role is to support access to abortion care.