On October 20, 2024, several new health care consumer protection laws will go into effect in New York. They are aimed at health care providers, changing the process for obtaining patient consent to pay for medical services, and specific new requirements for obtaining patient use of credit cards as payment.

The new Public Health Law Section 18-c requires medical providers to separately obtain a patient consent to treatment and a patient consent to pay for medical services. They can no longer be combined. Most providers have been utilizing a single signature on a routine form secured from the patient by their intake staff.  They now must be obtained separately. 

The patient consent to pay for services must now be obtained only after the patient receives the services, not before, and only after the patient discussed the treatment costs with their provider. 

This represents a major change to the operations of most outpatient medical offices and inpatient facilities.

Significant details of the newly required consent to pay for health care services law have not yet been clarified.

For example, clarity is needed about whether there will be requirements on the sufficiency of the discussion of treatment options and cost. It is also not yet clear whether providers will be allowed to combine several services on a single consent form, or if each service requires its own consent. Lack of guidance on these and related details is stressing providers in the drafting of their new forms. 

The New York State Department of Health is expected to issue additional guidance. 

Violators will be charged fines of $2,000 per incident.

In addition, New York State General Business Law Section 349-g will protect consumers entering into financial agreements to pay for health care services. These agreements include medical credit cards and third-party installment loans to pay for health care services, supplies, devices, and products. 

The new law applies to health care providers, their employees, and their agents that present these agreements to patients. Patients must fully understand the terms, must not feel pressured, and must consent independently. Providers and their offices will no longer be permitted to directly arrange or establish an application for a patient or assist patients in filling them out.  

Providers will be permitted under this new law to provide educational brochures and general financial information to the patient. 

Penalties will be up to $5,000 per violation.

New York General Business Law 519-a is also new. It will prohibit health care providers from requiring a patient to provide a credit card preauthorization or keep a credit card on file with the provider, before receiving emergency or medically necessary services. 

Patients paying for medical services by credit card are significantly disadvantaged because doing so prevents them from obtaining full federal and state protections regarding medical debt. 

The new law requires health care provider offices and hospitals to inform all patients about the financial risks associated with paying by credit card. The law appears to allow that after such notice, a patient could voluntarily choose to keep a credit card on file for preauthorized payment. 

New health care provider policies, procedures, educational materials, notices, staff training, consent forms, and patient signatures are now required by these new laws, going into effect on October 20, 2024. Additional New York State Department of Health guidance is also expected.