Senate Bill S2502

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S2502

SPONSOR: HELMING
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to aligning Medi-
caid optional services with private sector health benefits

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to facilitate the smooth transition from
welfare dependency to self-sufficiency by requiring that adult Medicaid
optional services be consistent with private sector health insurance
coverage levels, as specified in Article 43 of the New York State Insur-
ance Law. The bill does not apply to those under the age of 21 or to
those receiving long term care services.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill would make the Medicaid optional services similar to the
private sector health insurance coverage levels. This bill would not
              

apply to those under the age of 21 or to those receiving long term
services.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under existing law, some of the Medicaid optional services exceed the
health insurance coverage levels required for group plans under Article
43 of the Insurance Law. As a result, those on Medicaid receive a higher
level of health coverage than most employees working in either the
private sector or the public sector.

There are several important reasons highlighting the need to make Medi-
caid benefit coverage consistent with the health insurance coverage
generally available to employees in New York State. First, inconsistent
Medicaid benefit levels trap people in welfare. Under current law,
welfare recipients are discouraged from getting a private sector job
because private insurance coverage is lower than Medicaid coverage. By
making Medicaid coverage comparable to private sector coverage, welfare
recipients will not lose health coverage when they accept a private
sector job. Ensuring that Medicaid benefit levels are consistent with
private health insurance coverage will facilitate the smooth transition
from welfare dependency to self-sufficiency.

Second, it is fundamentally unfair to require taxpayers to fund optional
Medicaid services that exceed their own insurance coverage.  Welfare
recipients should not have better health coverage than the taxpayers who
the bill.

Third, Medicaid coverage consumes a substantial amount of both State
taxes and local property taxes. Reducing the overall cost of this
program would provide tremendous benefits to both State and local
taxpayers.

Fourth, the high cost of Medicaid forces higher State and local taxes
that hurt the business competitiveness of New York State, It is abso-
lutely critical that New York State and local governments reduce their
tax burden on local businesses so that these businesses can afford to
grow and expand, add more jobs, and offer better wages and benefits to
employees. One of our top priorities should be to help New York State
become more competitive. The only way to accomplish that goal is to
bring State and local spending in line with the rest of the nation. One
of the largest categories of expense facing both the State and its coun-
ties is the cost of Medicaid.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A.9384 of 2012: Referred to Health
A.4894 of 2014: Held in Health
A.5120 of 2016: Referred to Health
S.517 of 2017-2018: Referred to Health/A.4508 Held in Health

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

According to 2012-2013 data of Optical and Dental spending, this legis-
lation will save State and local governments 114 million dollars.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
120 days after it becomes law.