NY Governor Signs Health-Related Legal Services Programs Law
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: New York Legal Assistance Group
Source: Press Release, “NYS Endorses Legal Advocacy Services in Healthcare Settings”
Date: September 26, 2011
New York Legal Assistance Group writes in a press release: “Governor Andrew Cuomo [has] signed a bill making New York the first state to endorse the importance of providing free legal services onsite at healthcare facilities. The Health-Related Legal Services Programs Law promotes Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLPs) and will establish standards for their implementation. . . . LegalHealth – a division of the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) – and UJA-Federation of New York led the effort working in partnership with the New York State Coalition of MLPs. ‘This legislation is a great step forward for the medical-legal partnership movement and we are grateful to the visionary leaders that helped to make it happen,’ said Randye Retkin, Director of LegalHealth and a Founder and Chair of the New York State Coalition of MLPs. ‘Legal advocacy for New Yorkers with health concerns is most effective when it is a synergistic effort of doctors, social workers, and lawyers. As a team, we can better address the nonmedical factors burdening patients when they are most vulnerable – when they are sick and lack the time and resources to handle them.’ LegalHealth and the other 15 MLPs throughout the State provide onsite legal services at over 40 hospitals and health clinics to alleviate the nexus of poverty, poor health and lack of legal advocacy that traps vulnerable populations. By addressing basic needs such as housing, health insurance coverage, benefits eligibility, and employment issues, the program’s attorneys help resolve situations that may impede treatment or endanger a patient’s health.”