The Lavern’s Law bill was not the only health care bill that didn’t make the cut in Albany. HIV and AIDS advocates were expecting a $70 million in funding for housing that didn’t go through despite a previous announcement by Governor Cuomo that $200 million would be spent to fight the epidemic. A Cuomo task force dedicated to end the HIV epidemic also recommended passing the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act and the Reproductive Health Act but neither of them made it through the Senate. The Senate also blocked two bills facilitating the distribution of medical marijuana and a universal healthcare bill.
A bill proposing a cap of $250,000 for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases didn’t make it to the Assembly and another bill that would have relaxed the rules excluding hearsay as admissible evidence made it to the Assembly but was blocked by the Senate.
A bill requiring a separate consent from patients or their loved ones to allow video recording of patients in hospitals and a bill demanding tightened oversight of nurses and other licensed professionals also failed to pass. These two bills were created after a TV show filmed patients without their consent or the consent of their family at NY Presbyterian Hospital.
Advocates for organ donation won a few bills and also lost a few as well including one requiring vehicle transporting organs to be listed as emergency vehicles.
A bill that would have protected patients from being given psychotropic drugs without their consent or the consent of their family also failed.
A bill requiring pharmaceutical companies to evaluate the impact prescription drug prices have on the cost of health insurance and health care didn’t make it either.
Another bill making it easier for patients to get mail order prescription also didn’t make the cut.