The New Year is here and Sen. Michele Hinchey (D-46) already announced that four of her proposed healthcare bills were signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on January 3.

One bill would force a state-led approach to research and find solutions for the challenges that struggling, rural ambulance providers face. Another bill mandated that emergency shelters carry free menstrual products for applicable tenants. Air-ambulance providers will now be allowed to carry and administer blood products while enroute with trauma victims. Hinchey also made it easier for folks to register as organ donors.

“Upstate communities have seen a dramatic decline in healthcare services caused by decades of systemic underinvestment,” Hinchey said. “We deserve better, and I’m incredibly proud that the governor has signed four of my bills that work to close healthcare gaps and demonstrate progress towards better health equity for our region.”

Below are some highlights of the bills passed.

Ambulance Task Force

Senate Bill S3503C establishes the New York State Ambulance Services Task Force. In 2019, a New York State EMS Council survey revealed that 59 percent of rural first-responders felt that their response times were slower due to a lack of staff. You may remember that the Marbletown First Aid Unit, now the contracted ambulance provider for the town, was on the brink of bankruptcy after switching to a part-time paid staff, to increase their response rate, after experiencing the same issue. Their funds may have run out if not for Marbletown’s new tax line, the “Ambulance Improvement District,” which was created to fund a full-time ambulance service.

The decision to create the task force was also spurred by ambulance corps’ inability to raise enough money through reimbursements for their services, their limited ability to raise wages for professional first responders and difficulty covering operation costs, all of which has become more taxing over the pandemic.

This 12-member team will examine the challenges that are causing dozens of emergency medical services (EMS) stations to close in recent years. They will assess business and funding models of rural ambulance teams, and offer alternative solutions, as well. Who knows? Maybe Marbletown will become the model for such suggestions. In 12 months, the task force will issue a report on their findings to Hochul and it will be dissolved within the next two years.

Preventing “Period Poverty”

According to Hinchey, “period poverty” describes the fact that some menstruating people can’t get the period products they need due to financial constraints. As part of her reasoning, Hinchey noted that one in six such people between ages 12 and 44 live below the poverty line, making access to said items extremely difficult.

Additionally, one in four teens missed classes because they were not provided the proper products to manage their periods, some of which may resort to using rags, paper towels and reused pads. These unsanitary alternatives can cause skin irritations, infections, and feelings of anxiety and depression, according to the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.

Senate Bill S6572 requires shelters that provide temporary housing assistance for menstruating people to carry sanitary napkins, tampons and panty liners at no cost.

Blood Products & Air Transport

Hemorrhagic shock occurs after severe blood loss, where the body is unable to carry oxygen to the cells who need it to survive, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. If you suffer from a severe trauma in Ulster County, you often have to leave in a helicopter to Albany or Westchester to receive the required care. Until now, those onboard the copter were not allowed to carry or administer blood products to keep patients alive.

Air medevac providers needed to become designated as an Ambulance Transfusion Service, meaning they have a written agreement with a hospital blood bank. Not only does Senate Bill S4085A now allow them to carry blood, but they can also donate unused blood products to rural hospitals.

Organ Donor Registration Change

Senate Bill S5973 lets people register to be an organ donor through the New York State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance, the High Education Service Corporation, and the Office of Tax and Finance. Before Hinchey’s bill, the main modes of registration came when receiving an identification card from the Department of Motor Vehicles, while registering to vote, and other standalone avenues. Hinchey hopes that this will help the 8,528 folks still waiting for a donor in New York State. One donor could save eight lives, while their eye and tissue donations could help 75 more people.

“With this legislation, we are finally prioritizing rural EMS services, providing dignity to those in need of period products while in our shelter system, fixing an egregious and arcane law by giving air ambulance paramedics the ability to carry and transfuse blood, and expanding opportunities to save a life through new avenues for organ and tissue donation,” Hinchey said.