A 5624: Enacts the mental health assessment and record keeping for the coroner's office act; requires the coroner, coroner and coroner's physician, or the medical examiner, to conduct a mental health assessment when a death occurs in such person's jurisdiction; requires death certificates list an underlying mental illness as the cause of death when a person commits suicide; requires life insurance policies to pay upon a suicide which the coroner, coroner and coroner's physician, or the medical examiner indicated an underlying mental illness as the cause of death.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5624 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 18, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. LUCAS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments AN ACT to amend the county law, in relation to enacting the mental health assessment and record keeping for the coroner's office act The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "mental 2 health assessment and record keeping for the coroner's office act". 3 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 674 of the county law is amended by 4 adding a new paragraph (c) to read as follows: 5 (c) (i) The coroner or coroner and coroner's physician, or the medical 6 examiner, also shall make or cause to be made, a mental health assess- 7 ment which shall include, but not be limited to, a thorough evaluation 8 of the individual's medical and psychiatric history after a review of 9 any available documentation, including but not limited to medication 10 records or therapy reports. The coroner or coroner and coroner's physi- 11 cian, or the medical examiner, shall acquire any necessary medical, 12 psychiatric, or therapy records required to perform the mental health 13 assessment and shall keep such records confidential and protected in 14 accordance with any applicable privacy laws. Such records shall only be 15 used for the mental health assessment, research, and prevention efforts. 16 (ii) Upon completion of the mental health assessment, the coroner or 17 coroner and coroner's physician, or the medical examiner, shall reduce 18 to writing on a form prescribed by the commissioner of health any find- 19 ings including, but not limited to, any indications of mental distress 20 or illness and any evidence of mental health disorders, including but 21 not limited to schizophrenia, depression, PTSD, and bipolar disorder. 22 Any documents produced by the mental health assessment, including but 23 not limited to any findings, shall be kept confidential and protected in 24 accordance with any applicable privacy laws. Such documents shall only 25 be used for research and prevention efforts. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08248-01-5 
 A. 5624 2 1 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 2 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 3 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 4 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 5 completed on or before such effective date.