Senate Bill S2549

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S2549

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to eligibility for
the basic health program; and providing for the repeal of such
provisions upon the expiration thereof

 
PURPOSE:

To permit certain people who have had COVID-19 or symptoms of COVID-19
who would not otherwise be eligible for the Basic Health Program, also
known as the Essential Plan, because of their immigration status to be
eligible.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill would add subdivision 3-a to Section 369-gg of
the social services law to expand eligibility for the basic health
program (Essential Plan) to residents of New York State who earn below
two hundred percent of the federal poverty level, have or have had a
              

confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, and are ineligible for feder-
ally funded health coverage on the basis of immigration status.

Section two of the bill provides an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This legislation would ameliorate racial and ethnic disparities in
COVID-19 cases and fatalities by ensuring that immigration status is not
a barrier to securing testing and treatment. It builds upon the Depart-
ment of Health's guidance in April allowing otherwise ineligible indi-
viduals to be eligible for Emergency Medicaid for COVID-19 related test-
ing, care, and treatment. This bill allows those making between 133% and
200% of poverty, above the Emergency Medicaid levels, to have access to
the Essential Plan. Controlling the spread of COVID-19, particularly in
communities of color which are disproportionately affected, means
getting people tested and treated.  Having access to health insurance
makes this possible and helps stop the spread for everyone in New York
State.

The health disparities of COVID-19 are very real. The New York State
Department of Health COVID-19 tracker documents that the pandemic has a
profound disparate impact on people who are low-income or who are racial
and ethnic minorities. For example, the crude death rate per 100,000
population for white people is 23, while this same rate is double or
triple for African Americans, Latinx and Asian New Yorkers (98, 55, and
53, respectively) (New York State Department of Health COVID-19 tracker,
as of May 10, 2020, available at:
 
HTTPS://COVIDL9TRACKER.HEALTH.RW.GOV/ views/NYS-COVID19-
Tracker/NYSDOHCOVID19Tracker-FatalityDetail?%3Aembed
=yes&%3Atoolbar=no&%3Atabs=n).

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, lack of access to insurance
and high medical costs are major deterrents to seeking testing and
treatment. (Kaiser Family Foundation, "What Issues Will Uninsured People
Face with Testing and Treatment for COVID-19," March 16, 2020,

https://www.kff.org/uninsured/fact- sheet/what-issues- will-uninsured-
people-face-with-testingand- treatment-for-covid-19/.)

Federal law excludes many residents of New York from health coverage and
disaster relief because of their immigration status. Prior to the
COVID-19 emergency, immigrants formed the largest group of uninsured in
New York. Immigrant communities are being disproportionately affected by
the pandemic in terms of health, mortality, and financial hardship (See
"Despite Their Impact From COVID-10, Undocumented New Yorkers Have Few
Options For Financial Help", Gothamist, April 24, 2020.)

Expanding the Basic Health Plan would work to mitigate the racial and
ethnic disparities in COVID-19 fatalities by providing coverage to low-
income immigrant communities so that they have timely access diagnosis
and treatment of COVID-19. New Yorkers are facing severe financial hard-
ship because of the pandemic, which is impacting their ability to main-
tain health coverage or pay for health care. Financial hardships are
also affecting some communities more than others. By the end of March,
34 percent of households in New York City had reported job loss as a
result of the COVID-19 emergency. (See "Job loss in NYC disproportion-
ately impacts Hispanics and lower income city residents", CUNY New York
City COVID-19 Survey Week 2, https://sph.cuny.edu/research/covid-
19-tracking-survey/week2/.)

However, 41% of households whose members identified as Hispanic reported
job loss. Expanding access to Essential Plan coverage in a very limited
and focused manner, as this bill does, will help achieve the state's
objective of stopping the spread of this deadly disease.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-2020: S8357/A10474 Gottfried

 
FISCAL:

Minimal investment to avoid larger losses to the state as the COVID-19
virus continues to spread.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately and shall expire 60 days after the state declared emergency.