New York State Capitol

By Carol Rodat, PHI New York Policy Director

Now that the state budget has passed, the governor and the New York state legislature have turned their attention to a variety of other issues, notably health insurance coverage.

The most sweeping proposal is that which was introduced in both houses by the chairs of the health committees, Assemblyman Richard Gottfried and Senator Thomas Duane. These bills (A7854/S4884) would create universal coverage for New Yorkers under New York Health Plus, a program based on Family Health Plus and Child Health Plus.

Under the proposal, New Yorkers would have a choice of plans including a publicly sponsored plan and would pay no premiums. A payroll tax, modeled on that which Medicare uses, and surcharge on upper bracket non-wage and salary taxable income would finance the proposal.

A full report describing New York Health Plus is available at Assemblyman Gottfried’s website.

Senator Neil Breslin, chair of the New York State Senate Insurance Committee, has introduced a bill (S5742) in the State Senate on behalf of Governor Paterson that takes more moderate steps towards coverage. This proposal would:

• Extend COBRA from 18 to 36 months, helping those individuals who have lost their jobs retain coverage if they can afford the premiums;
• Permit coverage of unmarried young adult dependents up to age 29 under the parent’s employer-sponsored coverage; and,
• Require health plans to get permission from the Superintendent of Insurance before increasing premiums; and,
• Institute a variety of managed care reforms that providers and consumers have requested such as setting a requirement for the number of providers in a network and reducing the time to review post-hospital authorizations from managed care companies to one business day.

PHI’s recent survey and report on the coverage status of home care aides in New York sheds additional light on the New York Health Plus proposal and its effect on home care workers. For example, many home care employers do not currently offer coverage due to premium costs and would likely oppose a payroll tax.

In addition, those personal care aides who are currently using Family Health Plus have found the eligibility process to be onerous and one which resulted in fewer individuals being covered.