A 393: Allows a person legally responsible for an eligible individual's care and support, an eligible individual's spouse or designated representative to be a personal assistant in a consumer directed personal assistance program where such person is the sole person responsible for the eligible individual's care and support.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 393 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. EICHENSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to consumer directed personal assistance programs The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 365-f of the social services law, 2 as amended by section 9 of part QQ of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 3. Division of responsibilities. Eligible individuals who elect to 5 participate in the program assume the responsibility for services under 6 such program as mutually agreed to by the eligible individual and 7 provider and as documented in the eligible individual's record, includ- 8 ing, but not limited to, recruiting, hiring and supervising their 9 personal assistants. For the purposes of this section, personal assist- 10 ant shall mean an adult who has obtained an individual unique identifier 11 from the state by or before a date determined by the commissioner of 12 health in consultation with the Medicaid inspector general, and provides 13 services under this section to the eligible individual under the eligi- 14 ble individual's instruction, supervision and direction or under the 15 instruction, supervision and direction of the eligible individual's 16 designated representative, provided that [a person] persons legally 17 responsible for an eligible individual's care and support, an eligible 18 individual's spouse or designated representative may not be the personal 19 [assistant] assistants for the eligible individual unless such persons 20 are the only persons responsible for the eligible individual's care and 21 support; however, a personal assistant may include any other adult rela- 22 tive of the eligible individual, provided, however, that the program 23 determines that the services provided by such relative are consistent 24 with an individual's plan of care and that the aggregate cost for such EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01601-01-5 
 A. 393 2 1 services does not exceed the aggregate costs for equivalent services 2 provided by a non-relative personal assistant. Any personal information 3 submitted to obtain such unique identifier shall be maintained as confi- 4 dential pursuant to article six-A of the public officers law ("New York 5 state privacy protection law"). Such individuals shall be assisted as 6 appropriate with service coverage, supervision, advocacy and management. 7 Providers shall not be liable for fulfillment of responsibilities agreed 8 to be undertaken by the eligible individual. This subdivision, however, 9 shall not diminish the participating provider's liability for failure to 10 exercise reasonable care in properly carrying out its responsibilities 11 under this program, which shall include monitoring such individual's 12 continuing ability to fulfill those responsibilities documented in [his 13 or her] the individual's records. Failure of the individual to carry out 14 [his or her] the individual's agreed to responsibilities may be consid- 15 ered in determining such individual's continued appropriateness for the 16 program. 17 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.