Senate BillIntroduced
S 6686: Requires pre-admission notification of policies authorizing the refusal to follow directives in health care proxies that are contrary to a hospital's operating principles.
What S 6686 does, verified January 11, 2026
The bill requires hospitals to inform patients or their designated agents about their policies regarding refusal to follow medical directives that contradict the hospital's operating principles. This information must be provided prior to or upon admission, and in emergency situations, it can be shared as soon as possible. If the information is not provided initially, the hospital must explain the reason and document the explanation in the patient's medical record. The policy information must be shared with patients, families, or surrogates before or upon admission, and in emergency situations, it can be shared as soon as possible. If the information is not provided initially, the hospital must explain the reason and document the explanation in the patient's medical record. The policy information will take effect 60 days after the bill becomes a law.
Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: REFERRED TO HEALTH (2026-01-07)Alert me
Quick answers about S 6686
- What is the current status of S 6686?
- As of January 11, 2026, S 6686 is recorded as "Introduced": it has been introduced and is waiting for its first committee hearing or floor vote. The last recorded action, on January 7, 2026, was "REFERRED TO HEALTH".
- Did S 6686 pass?
- Not yet. S 6686 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
- Who wrote S 6686, and where is it now?
- S 6686 was authored by Sen. Cordell Cleare. Its committee of record is Senate Health.
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions2 total · showing 2
| Jan. 07, 2026 | REFERRED TO HEALTH |
| Mar. 19, 2025 | REFERRED TO HEALTH |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, March 19, 2025 · 392 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6686 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 19, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring pre-ad- mission notification of policies authorizing the refusal to follow directives in health care proxies that are contrary to a hospital's operating principles The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 2984 of the 2 public health law, as amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2010, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 (a) the hospital has informed the patient or the health care agent of 5 such policy prior to [or upon] admission, [if reasonably possible] 6 provided, that in the case of an emergency, the information may be 7 provided as soon as reasonably possible upon or after admission, and if 8 such information is given upon admission or later, an explanation as to 9 why such information was not given prior to admission shall be given to 10 the patient or health care agent and shall be placed in the patient's 11 medical record; and 12 § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 2994-n of the public 13 health law, as added by chapter 8 of the laws of 2010, is amended to 14 read as follows: 15 (b) The hospital has informed the patient, family, or surrogate of 16 such policy prior to [or upon] admission, [if reasonably possible] 17 provided, that in the case of an emergency, the information may be 18 provided as soon as reasonably possible upon or after admission, and if 19 such information is given upon admission or later, an explanation as to 20 why such information was not given prior to admission shall be given to 21 the patient or health care agent and shall be placed in the patient's 22 medical record; and 23 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 24 have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01254-01-5
Text of S 6686 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions