File #: Int 0844-2022    Version: * Name: Establishing an office of healthcare accountability.
Type: Introduction Status: Laid Over in Committee
Committee: Committee on Hospitals
On agenda: 12/7/2022
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to establishing an office of healthcare accountability
Sponsors: Julie Menin, Lynn C. Schulman, Mercedes Narcisse, Shaun Abreu, Justin L. Brannan, Carmen N. De La Rosa, Althea V. Stevens, Erik D. Bottcher, Oswald Feliz, Sandra Ung, Nantasha M. Williams, Pierina Ana Sanchez, Shekar Krishnan, Eric Dinowitz, Kamillah Hanks, Marjorie Velázquez, Farah N. Louis, Shahana K. Hanif, Christopher Marte, Linda Lee, Alexa Avilés, Chi A. Ossé, Rafael Salamanca, Jr., Kevin C. Riley, Tiffany Cabán, Rita C. Joseph, Gale A. Brewer, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, Lincoln Restler, Francisco P. Moya, Kristin Richardson Jordan, Crystal Hudson, Diana I. Ayala, Sandy Nurse, James F. Gennaro, Julie Won, Amanda Farías, Keith Powers , Carlina Rivera , Ari Kagan, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, (by request of the Manhattan Borough President), (by request of the Queens Borough President), (by request of the Brooklyn Borough President), (by request of the Bronx Borough President)
Council Member Sponsors: 42
Summary: This bill would establish an Office of Healthcare Accountability. This office would audit city expenditures on employee-related health care costs, and make recommendations on how to lower these costs. It would also be required to create a publicly accessible website that provides information on the costs of hospital procedures and summarizes the cost transparency of each hospital. Finally, it would also be required to, where feasible, report on the factors external to hospitals such as the operating and profit margin of major insurance providers.
Indexes: Other Appointment Required, Report Required
Attachments: 1. Summary of Int. No. 844, 2. Int. No. 844, 3. December 7, 2022 - Stated Meeting Agenda, 4. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting 12-7-22, 5. Minutes of the Stated Meeting - December 7, 2022, 6. Committee Report 2/23/23, 7. Hearing Testimony 2/23/23, 8. Hearing Transcript 2/23/23
Date Ver.Prime SponsorAction ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsMultimedia
2/23/2023*Julie Menin Committee on Health Laid Over by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
2/23/2023*Julie Menin Committee on Health Hearing Held by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
2/23/2023*Julie Menin Committee on Hospitals Laid Over by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
2/23/2023*Julie Menin Committee on Hospitals Hearing Held by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/7/2022*Julie Menin City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/7/2022*Julie Menin City Council Introduced by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available

Int. No. 844

 

By Council Members Menin, Schulman, Narcisse, Abreu, Brannan, De La Rosa, Stevens, Bottcher, Feliz, Ung, Williams, Sanchez, Krishnan, Dinowitz, Hanks, Velázquez, Louis, Hanif, Marte, Lee, Avilés, Ossé, Salamanca, Riley, Cabán, Joseph, Brewer, Gutiérrez, Brooks-Powers, Restler, Moya, Richardson Jordan, Hudson, Ayala, Nurse, Gennaro, Won, Farías, Powers, Rivera, Kagan and the Public Advocate (Mr. Williams) (by request of the Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and Bronx Borough Presidents)

 

A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to establishing an office of healthcare accountability

 

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

 

Section 1. Section 20-m of chapter 1 of the New York city charter, as added by local law number 164 for the year 2021, is renumbered section 20-o.

§ 2. Chapter 1 of the New York city charter is amended by adding a new section

20-p to read as follows: 

§ 20-p. Office of healthcare accountability. a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

Director. The term “director” means the director of healthcare accountability.

Office. The term “office” means the office of healthcare accountability.

b. Establishment of office. The mayor shall establish an office of healthcare accountability. Such office may be established as a standalone office or within any office of the mayor or within any department. Such office shall be headed by a director of healthcare accountability, who shall be appointed by the mayor or, if the office is established within an agency other than the office of the mayor, by the head of such agency.

c. Powers and duties. The director shall have the power and duty to:

1. Provide recommendations to the mayor, council, comptroller, or trustees of the city pension systems regarding healthcare and hospital costs, including, but not limited to, the proportion of healthcare costs spent on hospital care;

2. Audit city expenditures on health care costs for city employees, city retirees, and their dependents;

3. Provide, on the office’s website in a simplified and publicly accessible format, information on the costs of hospital procedures. Such information shall be based on any publicly available information relating to the cost of hospital procedures, including disclosures required pursuant to state and federal law, and shall be formatted in a way to allow for comparisons between procedure costs for specific hospitals; and

4. Provide on the office’s website a summary of the cost transparency of each hospital located in the city, categorizing each hospital as very transparent, satisfactory, or not transparent. Such summary shall be updated at least annually and shall be based on the office’s assessment of the information that each hospital has disclosed relating to the cost of hospital procedures, including:

(a) Whether such disclosures comply with the requirements of state and federal law; and

(b) Whether such disclosures were provided within the time period required by state and federal law.

d. Reporting. One year from the effective date of the local law that added this section and annually thereafter, the director shall submit to the mayor, the speaker of the council, and the attorney general of the state of New York, and shall post conspicuously on the office’s website, a report detailing the pricing practices for hospital systems in the city of New York. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. A summary of any audits conducted pursuant to paragraph 2 of subdivision c of this section, including the costs of hospital procedures paid for by the city disaggregated by hospital;

2. A summary of prices charged for hospital procedures disaggregated by:

(a) Hospital;

(b) Type of procedure, and;

(c) To the extent available, the average rate of reimbursement received by the hospital from each health insurance provider or other payer for each procedure;

3. A summary of each hospital’s level of transparency pursuant to paragraph 4 of subdivision c of this section;

4. To the extent available, a breakdown of each major insurance provider’s and other payer’s profit margins, employee headcounts, overhead costs, and executive salaries and bonuses; and

5. To the extent available, a summary of each hospital’s community benefit information as publicly reported on the Internal Revenue Service’s Form 990, Schedule H, as required pursuant to section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Service code, and each hospital’s publicly available implementation report regarding the hospital’s performance in meeting the health care needs of the community, providing charity care services, and improving access to health care services by the underserved, as required pursuant to section 2803-l(3) of the public health law.

§ 3. This local law takes effect 120 days after it becomes law.

 

 

 

 

SOS, JGP, NAW, NAB

LS #8621, 9141, 10286, 10508, 10509

11/30/22 11:30 am