§ 4310 — New York state donate life registry for organ, eye and tissue donations

§ 4310. New York state donate life registry for organ, eye and tissue\ndonations. 1. The department shall establish an organ, eye, and tissue\ndonor registry, which shall be called and be referred to as the "donate\nlife registry", which shall provide a means to make and register a gift\nof organs, eyes and tissues to take place after death pursuant to this\narticle. The donate life registry shall contain a listing of all donors\nwho have declared their consent to make an anatomical gift.\n 2. The commissioner may enter into a multi-year contract for the\noperation and promotion of the donate life registry subject to such\nterms and conditions as may be contained within such contract with a\nnot-for-profit organization that has experience working with organ, eye\nand tissue procurement organizations, has expertise in conducting organ,\neye and tissue donor promotional campaigns, and is affiliated with the\norgan, eye and tissue donation community throughout the state. The\ncontractor may subcontract as needed for the effective performance of\nthe contract. All such subcontractors and the terms of such subcontracts\nshall be subject to approval by the commissioner. Any applicable state\nagency, including, but not limited to, the department, the department of\nmotor vehicles and the board of elections, shall cooperate in the\ncollection and transfer of registrant data to the donate life registry.\n 3. The duties of the contractor shall include, but not be limited to,\nthe following:\n (a) the development, implementation and maintenance of the donate life\nregistry that includes online, mailed and other forms of organ, eye and\ntissue donor registration, verification, amendment and revocation;\n (b) preparation and submission of a plan to encourage organ, eye and\ntissue donation through education and marketing efforts and other\nrecommendations that would streamline and enhance the cost-effective\noperation of the donate life registry;\n (c) provision of written or electronic notification of registration in\nthe donate life registry to an individual enrolling in the donate life\nregistry; provided, however, that written in-person or electronic\nnotifications shall be utilized wherever possible as methods for\nfulfillment of the purposes of this paragraph; and\n (d) preparation and submission of an annual written report to the\ndepartment. Such report shall include:\n (i) a performance matrix including the number of registrants on the\ndonate life registry and an analysis of the registration rates,\nincluding but not limited to, location, method of registration,\ndemographic, and state comparisons;\n (ii) the characteristics of registrants as determined from the donate\nlife registry information;\n (iii) the annual dollar amount of voluntary contributions received by\nthe contractor for the purposes of maintaining the donate life registry\nand/or educational and promotional campaigns and initiatives;\n (iv) a description of the promotional campaigns and initiatives\nimplemented during the year; and\n (v) accounting statements of expenditures for the purposes of\nmaintaining the donate life registry and promotional campaigns and\ninitiatives.\n 4. (a) For the period April first, two thousand fourteen through March\nthirty-first, two thousand fifteen, payments to the contractor shall be\npaid by the department.\n (b) For the period beginning April first, two thousand fifteen and\nthereafter, payments to the contractor shall be paid by the department\nfrom funds available for these purposes, including, but not limited to,\nthe funds deposited into the life pass it on trust fund pursuant to\nsection ninety-five-d of the state finance law.\n (c) In addition, the contractor may receive and use voluntary\ncontributions.\n 5. * (a) Such organ, eye and tissue registration of consent to make an\nanatomical gift can be made through: (i) indication made on the\napplication or renewal form of a driver's license, (ii) indication made\non a non-driver identification card application or renewal form, (iii)\nindication made on a voter registration form pursuant to subdivision\nfive of section 5-210 of the election law, (iv) indication made on the\napplication for, or manual renewal application by an account holder of,\nhealth care coverage offered through the NY State of Health, the\nofficial Health Plan Marketplace, (v) enrollment through the donate life\nregistry website, (vi) paper enrollment submitted to the donate life\nregistry, (vii) indication made on the application or renewal form of a\nhunting, fishing or trapping license issued pursuant to title seven of\narticle eleven of the environmental conservation law, (viii) indication\nmade on transactions administered by the office of temporary and\ndisability assistance through the mybenefits.ny.gov website, or any such\nsuccessor website; (ix) indication made on applications, renewals or\nrelated transactions for college financial aid, grants, or scholarships\noffered or administered through any website maintained by the higher\neducation services corporation; (x) indication made by an insured and/or\napplicant for insurance during enrollments, renewals, and the initial\nprocess for an insured in setting up an online member service portal\nwith their insurer for accident and health insurance policies and\ncontracts issued pursuant to article forty-four of this chapter, article\nforty-two of the insurance law, or article forty-three of the insurance\nlaw, excepting renewals made through the NY State of Health, the\nofficial Health Plan Marketplace, other than those specifically\nreferenced in subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph and paragraph (v) of\nsubdivision one of section two hundred six of this chapter; and\nprovided, however, that nothing in this section shall apply to the\nmedical assistance program under title eleven of article five of the\nsocial services law; (xi) transactions conducted through the\npatient-facing portal of an individual's electronic health record; or\n(xii) through any other method identified by the commissioner. The\ndepartment shall establish a means by which to register the consent\ngiven by individuals who are sixteen or seventeen years of age in the\ndonate life registry, and shall make registration available by any of\nthe methods provided in subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi),\n(vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi) and (xii) of this paragraph.\n * NB Effective until December 21, 2026\n * (a) Such organ, eye and tissue registration of consent to make an\nanatomical gift can be made through: (i) indication made on the\napplication or renewal form of a driver's license, (ii) indication made\non a non-driver identification card application or renewal form, (iii)\nindication made on a voter registration form pursuant to subdivision\nfive of section 5-210 of the election law, (iv) indication made on the\napplication for, or manual renewal application by an account holder of,\nhealth care coverage offered through the state health benefit exchange,\n(v) enrollment through the donate life registry website, (vi) paper\nenrollment submitted to the donate life registry, (vii) indication made\non the application or renewal form of a hunting, fishing or trapping\nlicense issued pursuant to title seven of article eleven of the\nenvironmental conservation law, (viii) indication made on transactions\nadministered by the office of temporary and disability assistance\nthrough the mybenefits.ny.gov website, or any such successor website;\n(ix) indication made on applications, renewals or related transactions\nfor college financial aid, grants, or scholarships offered or\nadministered through any website maintained by the higher education\nservices corporation; (x) transactions conducted through the\npatient-facing portal of an individual's electronic health records; or\n(xi) through any other method identified by the commissioner. The\ndepartment shall establish a means by which to register the consent\ngiven by individuals who are sixteen or seventeen years of age in the\ndonate life registry, and shall make registration available by any of\nthe methods provided in subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi),\n(vii), (viii), (ix), (x) and (xi) of this paragraph.\n * NB Effective December 21, 2026\n (b) * (i) Where required by law for transactions described in\nsubparagraphs (i), (ii), (iv), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi) and (xii)\nof paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the commissioner shall ensure, in\nconsultation with the head of any agency required to implement such\ntransaction, that space is provided on any required form so that the\napplicant shall register or decline registration in the donate life\nregistry for organ, eye and tissue donations under this section and that\nthe following is stated on the form in clear and conspicuous type:\n "You must fill out the following section: Would you like to be added\nto the Donate Life Registry? Check box for 'yes' or 'skip this\nquestion'."\n * NB Effective until December 21, 2026\n * (i) Where required by law for transactions described in\nsubparagraphs (i), (ii), (iv), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x) and (xi) of\nparagraph (a) of this subdivision, the commissioner shall ensure, in\nconsultation with the head of any agency required to implement such\ntransaction, that space is provided on any required form so that the\napplicant shall register or decline registration in the donate life\nregistry for organ, eye and tissue donations under this section and that\nthe following is stated on the form in clear and conspicuous type:\n "You must fill out the following section: Would you like to be added\nto the Donate Life Registry? Check box for 'yes' or 'skip this\nquestion'."\n * NB Effective December 21, 2026\n (ii) The commissioner shall not maintain records of any person who\nchecks "skip this question". Except where the application is made in\nperson or electronically, failure to check a box shall not impair the\nvalidity of an application, and failure to check "yes" or checking "skip\nthis question" shall not be construed to imply a wish not to donate. In\nthe case of an applicant under eighteen years of age, checking "yes"\nshall not constitute consent to make an anatomical gift or registration\nin the donate life registry, except as otherwise provided pursuant to\nthe provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section\nforty-three hundred one of this article. Where an applicant has\npreviously consented to make an anatomical gift or registered in the\ndonate life registry, checking "skip this question" or failing to check\na box shall not impair that consent or registration.\n (c) Enrollment or amendment or revocation through the donate life\nregistry website through any of the means listed in this subdivision may\nbe signed by electronic signature, in accordance with the provisions of\narticle three of the state technology law, supported by the use of\nsuitable mechanisms including unique identifiers to provide confidence\nin the identity of the person providing the electronic signature. The\nregistration shall take effect upon the provision of written or\nelectronic notice of the registration to the individual enrolling in the\ndonate life registry and the registry's entry of the individual's\nenrollment data in the registry; provided, however, that written\nin-person or electronic notifications shall be utilized wherever\npossible as methods for fulfillment of the purposes of this paragraph.\n (d) Amendments or revocations from the donate life registry shall be\nmade by the following, subject to the requirements of the commissioner:\n (i) registrants submitting an amendment or revocation in writing to\nthe donate life registry; or\n (ii) registrants submitting an amendment or revocation electronically\nthrough the donate life registry website.\n (e) Removal from the donate life registry shall not be deemed a\nrefusal of any other or future anatomical gift.\n (f) The donate life registry shall provide individuals enrolled the\nopportunity to specify which organs, eyes and tissues they want to\ndonate and if the donation may be used for transplantation, research, or\nboth.\n 6. An individual registered in the donate life registry before July\ntwenty-third, two thousand eight shall be deemed to have expressed\nintent to donate, until and unless he or she files an amendment to his\nor her registration or a new registration expressing consent to donate.\n 7. (a) The donate life registry shall be maintained in a manner that\nallows immediate access to organ, eye and tissue donation records\ntwenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to the contractor, the\ndepartment, federally designated organ procurement organizations,\nlicensed eye and tissue banks, and such other entities which may be\napproved by the department for access. Access shall be available to\nregistrants to confirm the accuracy and validity of their registration\nand to amend or revoke their registration, subject to reasonable\nprocedures to verify identity.\n (b) Access to the donate life registry shall have security measures\nset forth in the contract to protect the integrity of the identifiable\ndata in the donate life registry, which may only be accessed by the\nparties described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision and only for the\npurposes of determining donor status at or near the time of death of an\nindividual, by the department for any purpose, by the contractor only\nfor purposes of quality assessment and improvement, technical support\nand donor services, or by individual registrants for the purposes of\nconfirming the accuracy and validity of their registration or making,\namending or revoking their registration.\n (c) De-identified information may be accessed by the entities listed\nin paragraph (a) of this subdivision or their designees for purposes of\nanalysis, promotion, education, quality improvement and technical\nsupport for the donate life registry. The information contained in the\nregistry shall not be released to any person except as expressly\nauthorized by this section, solely for the purposes so authorized.\n 8. The commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations\nnecessary to implement the provisions of this section.\n 9. An interagency work group, composed of the commissioner, the\ncommissioner of the department of motor vehicles, a chair of the board\nof elections, or their designees, and such other individuals as may be\ndesignated by the commissioner, shall be established to meet with the\ncontractor annually and as needed to review the status of the donate\nlife registry, to examine the steps that might be taken by state\nagencies to enhance its performance and to make recommendations to the\ncontractor.\n