A new law was
signed Wednesday that will better protect New Yorker baby boomer from hepatitis
C by requiring hospitals and health providers to offer testing for the virus to
all patients born between 1945 and 1965
"Hepatitis
C is a debilitating and potentially fatal disease that disproportionately
affects the baby boomer generation in New York and nationwide," Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo said.
"This
new law will help fight hepatitis C and keep New Yorkers safe by providing
testing to those most likely to have this virus whenever they visit a medical
facility,” Cuomo said.
About 75
percent of hepatitis C infections and about 73 percent of hepatitis C-associated
deaths occurs in people born between 1945 and 1965 – baby boomers, according to
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New York
State Department of Health statistics show that as many as 150,000 New Yorkers
are unaware they have hepatitis C.
The new law
will ensure that all people born between 1945 and 1965 are offered a hepatitis
C screening test or diagnostic test when they’re a patient at a hospital,
clinic, or a physician's office.
"Offering a screening test to the hundreds of thousands of
New Yorkers whose lives could be saved or improved is common sense and good
preventive medicine,” said Beth Finkel, AARP New York State director. “AARP
applauds Governor Cuomo for making New York a national leader on this critical
issue by signing this bill into law.”
AARP supported the bill in the New York State Assembly.
The new law
will take effect on January 1.
