Support for Hospital Transparency Act Ensuring Public Hospitals to Publicly Disclose Information about Healthcare Services

SUMMARY

The LGBTQ+ Rights Committee, Civil Rights Committee, Health Law Committee, and Sex and Law Committee urged Governor Hochul to sign the Hospital Transparency Act (A.3862/S.3486). As hospital mergers and consolidations accelerate, patients often have no way of knowing which facilities deny critical services, including reproductive and gender-affirming care. This bill requires hospitals to disclose “rules-based exclusions” and mandates the Department of Health to publish this information online in clear, accessible language. Transparency will help patients make informed decisions and avoid delays that jeopardize health and safety. At a time when federal attacks on reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights are mounting, this legislation is a vital step toward ensuring that New Yorkers can find the care they need without barriers or surprises.

BILL INFORMATION

A.3862 (AM Rozic) / S.3486 (Sen. Hinchey)- An act to amend the public health law and the insurance law, in relation to providing information to patients and the public on hospital rule-based exclusions (NYS 2025-26)

OUTCOME

Vetoed by the Governor, Memo 140 – December 19, 2025

REPORT

REPORT ON LEGISLATION BY THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER & QUEER RIGHTS COMMITTEE, CIVIL RIGHTS COMMITTEE, HEALTH LAW COMMITTEE, AND SEX & LAW COMMITTEE

A.3862 (M. of A. Rozic)
S.3486 (Sen. Hinchey)

AN ACT that requires the commissioner of health to collect from each hospital a list of its hospital rule-based exclusions and publish such information on the department’s website.

Hospital Transparency Act

THIS BILL IS APPROVED

I. INTRODUCTION

The New York City Bar Association urges Governor Hochul to sign the Hospital Transparency Act, A.3862 (AM Rozic) / S.3486 (Sen. Hinchey), which has passed both chambers of the State Legislature, into law before the 2025 legislative session expires. By requiring hospital systems within New York State to disclose which services they do not provide, the bill will improve New Yorkers’ access to medical care, help reduce inefficiencies in overcrowded hospitals, and underscore Governor Hochul’s commitment to and the state’s protection of reproductive and gender affirming healthcare.

II. SUMMARY OF THE HOSPITAL TRANSPARENCY ACT PROVISIONS

As access to community hospitals begins to shrink due to closures and consolidations into larger systems, New Yorkers are becoming increasingly reliant on hospitals that have ceased providing particular categories of care, including emergency treatment. Worse yet, New Yorkers are largely unable to ascertain ahead of time whether a hospital offers the type of treatment they need because that information is not readily available to the public. Unsurprisingly, restricted access to and outright denials of medical treatments “can lead to serious adverse health impacts that jeopardize individuals’ lives and wellbeing[.]”^[1] Indeed, some such denials of care violate state and federal law.

Passing the Hospital Transparency Act is a critical step to ensuring that New Yorkers have access to key information to help them determine which hospitals provide the type of care they need. The Act requires each general hospital to provide a list to the Department of Health of its rules-based exclusions–i.e., services the hospitals have chosen not to provide based on internal policies. The hospitals must also add to the statement of patients’ rights and responsibilities (which they are already required to provide to all patients) (1) an explanation of hospital rules-based exclusions, and (2) a link to the DOH website page that lists all such exclusions. Finally, each hospital’s website must contain a link to the DOH website. The Act does not require the hospitals to provide any services they have chosen to exclude, or to affirmatively inform patients when such services are unavailable.

The Act requires DOH to collect and publish a list of all general hospital rules-based exclusions on its website, in language that is readily understandable by members of the public, and to update it annually. Finally, DOH must report every five years on the impact of hospital rules-based exclusions on patient access to care.

III. PASSING THE HOSPITAL TRANSPARENCY ACT DEMONSTRATES NEW YORK AND GOV. HOCHUL’S COMMITMENT TO PROTECTING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

New York State has a longstanding commitment to reproductive rights, and, throughout her tenure, Governor Hochul has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to ensuring New Yorkers have access to essential reproductive healthcare services. In 2019, New York passed the Reproductive Health Act, which ensures “Every individual has the fundamental right to choose or refuse contraception or sterilization. Every individual who becomes pregnant has the fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to term, to give birth to a child, or to have an abortion, pursuant to this article. The state shall not discriminate against, deny, or interfere with the exercise of [these] rights.”^[2] In 2022, Governor Hochul signed a series of bills ensuring legal protections for abortion providers in NYS.^[3] In 2024, New Yorkers overwhelmingly voted to pass our state’s Equal Rights Amendment which explicitly safeguards reproductive freedom.^[4] This year, Governor Hochul directed $24 million to fund abortion care throughout the state and for New York to fund Planned Parenthood after federal cuts.^[5]

Governor Hochul should sign the Hospital Transparency Act as a demonstration of her continued commitment to protecting access to reproductive healthcare in New York. Even though abortion is legal and protected in New York State, many hospitals do not provide such reproductive healthcare treatment due to hospital rules-based exclusions, creating a de facto ban on such treatment in certain areas. For example, when Ellis Hospital–the only inpatient hospital in Schenectady County–merged with St. Peter’s Health Partners, a Catholic hospital that does not provide abortions unless the care falls within their narrow definition of a medical emergency or sterilizations, the merger agreement stated Ellis could continue providing services prohibited by St. Peter’s directives. However, St. Peter’s has apparently issued new contracts requiring providers to follow its directives, and it is now unclear if Ellis will continue providing elective abortions. These mergers limit access to healthcare in areas where access is already limited. A quarter of Schenectady County residents are below the poverty line, and many rely on Medicaid and Medicare.^[6] Signing the Hospital Transparency Bill would also protect New Yorkers from languishing in hospitals that refuse to treat them by enabling patients to find the services they need in the first instance. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, hospitals upstate and in New York City have denied miscarriage management, including one hospital that has prohibited miscarriage treatment if a fetal heartbeat is present, resulting in people suffering without care unless and until the hospital transfers them elsewhere.^[7]

The Hospital Transparency Act would support New Yorkers by furnishing the information patients need to determine, in a timely fashion, which of their local hospitals provide the care they seek and enable them to make informed decisions about their medical care.

IV. PASSING THE HOSPITAL TRANSPARENCY ACT DEMONSTRATES GOV. HOCHUL’S COMMITMENT TO PROTECTING THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

Signing the Hospital Transparency Act into law would also highlight and further cement Governor Hochul’s longstanding commitment to protecting the LGBTQ+ community in New York State. During June’s pride month in 2025, Hochul stated, “[t]his month and every month, we will continue to honor the contributions of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers and will work to protect, support, and celebrate the vibrancy they bring to New York.” In that same speech, Hochul announced increased funding for LGBTQ+ causes and initiatives. These comments echoed the sentiment Hochul expressed in 2023: “Now, as other states target LGBTQ+ people with bigotry and fearmongering, New York is fighting back. These new laws will enshrine our state as a beacon of hope, a safe haven for trans youth and their families, and ensure we continue to lead the nation on LGBTQ+ rights.”^[8]

Governor Hochul has long been a stalwart supporter of transgender rights and gender affirming care. In 2023, Hochul signed the “Safe Haven” Act (2023-S2475B) into law, which prohibits law enforcement agencies from cooperating with or providing information to an out-of-state agency or department regarding lawful gender-affirming care performed in the state, and which also protects the custody of children whose parent or guardian allowed them to receive lawful gender-affirming care.^[9] The Safe Haven Act further prohibits the arrest of anyone performing or aiding in the performance of lawful gender-affirming care in New York.^[10]

Signing the Hospital Transparency Act fully aligns with Governor Hochul’s prior championing of the LGBTQ+ community and would provide critical protections for the trans community at a time when hospitals throughout New York State have suspended or ceased providing gender-affirming care to transgender patients. In February 2025, at least two New York hospitals confirmed that they had paused providing gender-affirming care to new patients under the age of 19, in violation of New York State anti-discrimination law,^[11] in direct response to  President Trump’s January 2025 executive order (EO14187) that purported to end all federal funding to medical institutions, including medical schools and hospitals, that provide gender-affirming care to people under the age of 19.^[12] NYU Langone Health canceled pre-scheduled procedures for at least two patients^[13] immediately following the executive order, and New York-Presbyterian (New York’s largest hospital) removed all references to gender-affirming care for young people from its website.^[14] Further attacks on gender-affirming care at the federal level can be expected to cause similar confusion and stress among patients seeking gender-affirming care.

Given the changing landscape of which providers and hospitals offer which services, the passage of the Hospital Transparency Bill is more crucial than ever. As a proud supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, Governor Hochul should sign this bill to provide people in the state with the information necessary to find the medical providers that will treat them.

V. THE HOSPITAL TRANSPARENCY ACT IMPOSES MINIMAL BURDENS ON HOSPITALS

In addition to protecting transgender patients and those seeking reproductive care, the Act imposes straightforward reporting requirements that align with information hospitals already track and report to multiple entities. The Act requires the Commissioner to “collect from each general hospital a list of its hospital rule-based exclusions on an annual basis,” a simple compilation of existing institutional policies that hospitals have already documented for their accreditation applications and insurance contracts. The legislation defines these exclusions as “any criteria, rules, or policies, whether written or unwritten, formally adopted or drafted, endorsed by the general hospital or followed from an external source” that restrict care. Since hospitals already identify and communicate these restrictions to accrediting bodies and insurers, submitting them to the Department of Health involves no new data collection infrastructure. The bill even provides an 18-month implementation period, giving hospitals ample time to compile information they already maintain.

The Hospital Transparency Act does not ask hospitals to create new information—it simply requires them to share with the public what they are already reporting to accreditors, regulators, and insurers. For example, many hospitals already report detailed information about the services they offer to accreditation bodies like the Joint Commission. The accreditation application process requires hospitals to provide “essential information about your organization, including ownership and management, demographics, and types and volume of services provided” to determine survey requirements. Hospitals must also notify the Joint Commission within 30 days of any “change in ownership, control, location, capacity, or services offered.”^[15] Similarly, for network adequacy compliance, New York insurers must submit their provider networks to the Department of Financial Services quarterly through the Provider Network Data System, and these networks must include detailed information about which hospitals provide which types of services.^[16] Just as hospitals already navigate complex network adequacy requirements where they must report their service capabilities to insurance companies and state regulators, this bill asks them to make similar information accessible to patients through a public website. Moreover, the legislation provides that “the commissioner, in consultation with experts in health care access, patient advocacy, types of health care that are frequently inaccessible, and hospital administration shall promulgate rules and regulations creating standardized language for this list to ensure that it is readily understandable to patients, prospective patients, and members of the public.” This means the Department of Health will develop the framework and standardized language, while hospitals simply provide the data, again something they already maintain, document and report for accreditation and regulatory compliance.

Governor Hochul previously vetoed the Hospital Transparency Act, citing estimated first-year costs of nearly one million dollars with “high annual recurring costs.” However, this estimate appears to overstate the actual administrative burden on a recurring basis. As explained above, the infrastructure for collecting and managing this data already exists at both the hospital and state levels. The Department of Health would need to create a public-facing database and develop standardized language – a one-time project, not an ongoing operational expense requiring high recurring costs.

IV. CONCLUSION

The passage of the Hospital Transparency Act is crucial to support patients seeking care in the state while putting a minimal administrative burden on both the Department of Health and hospitals. Not only will the Act provide vulnerable patients throughout the state with information on what hospitals provide what care, it will also ensure that hospitals themselves are not crowded with patients seeking procedures or care that the hospitals cannot or will not provide, thereby potentially decreasing wait times for other patients as well. Most crucially, though, by signing the Hospital Transparency Act, Governor Hochul will show that she is a leader who backs up her rhetoric with action, showcasing support for LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights in New York, even as these rights are subject to mounting attacks at the federal level.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Rights Committee
Jared M. Trujilo and Hayley J. Gorenberg, Co-Chairs

Civil Rights Committee
Evan Henley, Co-Chair

Health Law Committee
Debra L. Cohn, Chair

Sex & Law Committee
Natalie R. Birnbaum and Susan E. Cersovsky, Co-Chairs

December 2025