Assembly Bill A10546

                                BILL NUMBER:A10546

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
making an appropriation to the Schenectady health care practitioner
volunteer program

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To provide $350,000
for the operation
of the Schenectady Health Care Practitioner volunteer program (the
Schenectady Free Clinic).

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one
appropriates $350,000 to
the Department of Health for the purpose of funding the Schenectady
Health Care practitioner volunteer Program. Section two provides a
immediate effective date.

EXISTING LAW:
In prior years, the Schenectady Health
Care Practitioner
volunteer program received funding through the Health Commissioner's
Priority Pool and through modest Legislative member initiatives.

              

JUSTIFICATION:
The primary source of State funding
for the Schenectady
Free Clinic has been the Health Commissioner's Priority Pool, which
provided $100,000 in each of the first two years of operations, and
$200,000 in 2006-07.

Based on conversations with Health Department staff, the Schenectady
program expected $300,000 to $400,000 from the Department for 2007-08.
During the last week in March, 2007, the Department advised the
Schenectady program that they would provide no funding for 2007-08.
At that point, it was too late to develop an alternate source of
State funding.
Since the Schenectady program operates on an annual budget of about
$800,000, this loss of support from the Health Department was
devastating.

Schenectady County has provided an emergency grant of $50,000, and
several pharmaceutical companies have offered to help reduce costs by
providing free or low cost prescription medications. However, in the
absence of some form of replacement for the Health Department funds
which were withdrawn, the Free Clinic has been forced to stop
accepting new patients and may now be forced to close.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2008: A.8852; Held for consideration in Ways and Means
2007: A.8852; Referred to Ways and Means

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Appropriates $350,000.

LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Schenectady County has provided an emergency appropriation of $50,000.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate.