Advocacy is at the core of ANA-New York’s mission.
Through our weekly advocacy updates, we provide timely insights into the legislative and policy issues impacting nurses and healthcare across New York State.
Each week, we share key developments from Albany, including proposed legislation, budget updates, and advocacy efforts that directly affect the nursing profession and the patients we serve.
Staying informed is essential to strengthening the voice of nursing. These updates are designed to help our members understand what’s happening, why it matters, and how ANA-NY is actively advocating on their behalf.
Check back each week for the latest updates.
Eye on Albany – week of 3/30/2026
Although the budget deadline for NY is 4/1, we are expecting a late budget this year. Items of interest currently included in the budget are: reducing the reliance on temporary staff to stabilize NY’s healthcare workforce, use of community paramedicine and hospital at home strategies, the expansion of free Community College for those exploring a nursing degree even if they have another degree, and imposing a tax on alternative nicotine products.
Committee Action Updates
The Senate Codes Committee has S2398/A5123 (Persaud, Solages) on this week’s agenda. This bill would require genetic testing results only be received by patients and health care providers providing direct care while health insurance companies only receive a record that the genetic testing was performed. This bill passed the Senate last year. It has not moved from the Assembly Governmental Operations Committee.
Other Items of Interest
ANA-NY continues to be an active member of the Let’s Get Immunized New York Coalition and is supporting the following two bills:
Hochul Program Bill #21: Immunization Reforms to the Insurance Law: A10710 (Dilan)/S9599 (Bailey) – This bill would expand what vaccine recommendations can trigger insurance coverage to continue to allow existing reliance on recommendations from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), while adding new authority that allows the Commissioner of Health to make recommendations to the Superintendent of Financial Services regarding immunizations that shall be covered by insurance, utilizing generally accepted medical standards and taking into consideration recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the American College of Physicians (ACP), and other nationally or internationally recognized scientific organizations. This would apply across all state-regulated, commercial insurance markets in New York.
Hochul Program Bill #22: Immunization Reforms to the Public Health, Education & Social Services Law: A10711(Paulin)/S9598 (Stavisky) – This bill would give the NYS Health Commissioner broad authority to determine immunization requirements and standards in the following areas:
Shifts school vaccine requirements away from federal standards to align with regulations issued by the Commissioner of Health, utilizing generally accepted medical standards including those by AAP, AAFP, ACOG, ACP, ACIP or other recognized scientific organizations.
Amends the definition of "immunization" in Public Health law generally and specifically regarding meningococcal vaccines by removing references to federal standards, aligning the statutory definition with the new state standard-setting approach
Regarding standing orders for pharmacist immunization by physicians and nurse practitioners, the bill removes references requiring vaccines be recommended by ACIP and adds COVID vaccination for ages 2+
Regarding newborn immunizations, the bill removes references to vaccine requirements having to align with ACIP and allows the schedule to be set by the DOH Commissioner
Regarding the availability of childhood immunization guidance for the Medicaid population, the bill removes reference to requiring alignment with ACIP recommended vaccines, instead allowing guidance that is based solely on DOH recommendations
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