‘Health care deserts’ could be publicized
Hospitals would list procedures they don’t do under proposal
ALBANY — State legislators are considering a new bill that would require hospitals to publicly list procedures they opt not to perform, an attempt to identify ‘health care deserts’ where abortions, reproductive services and gender-affirming care are not available.
Some hospitals — including all health care facilities run by the Catholic church — do not perform gender-affirming care, abortions or other forms of reproductive care such as sterilization procedures or the implanting of intrauterine devices that prevent pregnancies.
State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, the bill’s sponsor, said the issue is becoming more prominent as rural health care options have diminished. Since 2003, 40 hospitals have closed in the state.
“This bill will finally shed a light, helping us see those health care deserts that we know that exist, or are on the verge of existing, and be able to really plan accordingly,” she said.
The bill is focused on how hospital mergers affect reproductive care. When Catholic hospitals merge with secular facilities, the religious policies of the former are applied to the latter and, since mergers usually happen between nearby hospitals, reproductive care can be unavailable in a large area.
In the Capital Region, advocates are concerned the ongoing merger between Ellis Medicine and St. Peter’s Health Partners, a Catholic hospital, will result in reproductive services disappearing from Ellis.
Due to mergers and acquisitions, large health care systems control 70 percent of all acute care hospital beds in the state, according to the bill.
Hinchey said the bill is especially important after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year which struck down Roe v. Wade, leading to the curtailing abortion services in many states.
“Our doctors are absolutely seeing an influx in people coming from out of state seeking the care that they deserve, and we’re already losing these services, which puts a very deep strain on those medical providers that are still here, and it’s almost unsustainable,” the senator said.
A public listing would allow patients to ascertain what hospital they should go to, and would inform decisions about where to move if a person believes they might need reproductive services in the future, according to Hinchey.
The current bill passed in the Senate on Jan. 24 along party lines, with Democratic state Sen. Simcha Felder joining 21 Republicans in opposing the bill.
Republican State Sen. Jake Ashby, whose district includes Columbia and parts of Rensselaer, Saratoga and Washington counties, said in a statement he opposed the bill because of the burden it would place on hospitals.
“Patients facing emergency situations need hospitals to be solvent,” Ashby said. “During a time of unprecedented stress for our hospitals amid a staffing crisis, stagnant reimbursement rates and the aftermath of a global pandemic, I don’t think this is the time to be imposing new mandates on institutions struggling to save lives.”
Under the bill, hospitals would also have to provide information on what procedures they do not perform, which the bill calls “policy-based exclusions,” to the state Department of Health. The health department would release an annual report on how those exclusions impact “patients’ ability to access quality, comprehensive, affordable care near their residences and whether and how access to care varies by community, as well as by race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and socioeconomic status, across the state,” according to the bill.
This is the second time Hinchey has introduced the bill. During the last year’s legislative session, the bill passed the Senate but died in the Assembly. The bill is currently in Assembly committee.