EXPANDING HEALTH CARE COVERAGE AND INSTITUTING PREVENTIVE CARE FOR NEW YORK’S MOST VULNERABLE CITIZENS

• Governor Paterson finds innovative ways to expand health care coverage.

• An estimated 2.5 million New Yorkers do not have health insurance.
• Last year, New York expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), making affordable coverage available to every child in New York.
• Now, Governor Paterson will partner with the federal government to expand Family Health Plus to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, making more than 400,000 additional New Yorkers eligible for coverage.

• To fund this initiative, New York will request a waiver from the federal government to allow the state to tap into $30 billion of savings the state has already achieved in the Medicaid program.

• Governor Paterson announces legislation he will propose to expand health insurance coverage for family members up to the age of 29.

• 31 percent of New York’s uninsured are ages 19 to 29.
• Although New York law does not require employers to offer dependent coverage, employers who do chose to offer coverage typically offer parents coverage for dependents through age 18 (for everyone) and through age 22 (if attending college). Governor Paterson’s proposed legislation expands coverage to family members from ages 19 to 29 (regardless of whether they attend college).
• This would be a COBRA-like benefit. Families, not employers, would be required to pay the full cost of the policy, but the policy would cost significantly less since it would be offered under a group policy and it would be age rated.
• Based on New Jersey’s experience, families could expect to pay 20 to 40 percent less than current COBRA rates.

• Governor Paterson proposes removing barriers to coverage until we can enroll every New Yorker who is eligible for publicly-funded coverage.
  • Almost one-half of the 2.5 million uninsured children and adults are eligible today for Medicaid or Child Health Plus; that’s why Governor Paterson is continuing efforts to make it easier for eligible New Yorkers to get and keep coverage.
  • Governor Paterson would eliminate the asset test and the finger printing requirement.

• Governor Paterson would also eliminate the requirement that applicants appear for a “face-to-face” interview.

• Governor Paterson proposes to increase the amount of funding available for hospitals, community health centers and community mental hygiene clinics serving increasing numbers of uninsured patients.
  • The Governor has proposed adding $282 million to the Hospital Indigent Care Pool; over 50 percent of these funds will go to subsidize State public hospitals.
  • The Governor has proposed doubling funding for the Diagnostic and Treatment Center (D&TC) Indigent Care Program from $55 million to $110 million through a federal waiver, and if successful, include community mental hygiene clinics in the Program.

• Governor Paterson proposes to reform Medicaid reimbursement to ensure that New Yorkers have access to primary and preventive care.
  • New York’s hospital inpatient rates are among the highest in the country and exceed the cost of hospital care for Medicaid patients.  At the same time, Medicaid rates for ambulatory care (i.e, emergency rooms, physicians, clinics, and primary care) are well below costs.  Furthermore, New York ranks low among states on unnecessary hospitalizations – hospitalizations that could have been avoided if New Yorkers had timely access to good primary and preventive care.
  • Governor Paterson proposes to reduce inpatient rates and reallocate the monies to higher reimbursement rates for ambulatory care settings.
  • Enhanced payments will be made to clinicians and clinics that meet medical home standards, providing coordinated care and care follow-up for their primary care patients.
  • A medical home demonstration will be established in the Adirondacks to support the development of health care homes in the Adirondack park area, in order to improve quality and access in this underserved area of the State.

• Governor Paterson speaks about the importance of preventive care and wages war on the growing obesity epidemic.

• The obesity epidemic is a public health catastrophe and the greatest threat to our children’s health today.
• The Surgeon General estimates that obesity is associated with 112,000 deaths in the United States every year.
• One out of every four New Yorkers under 18 years old is obese. Obesity among children and adolescents has tripled over the past three decades.
• The percentage of obese adults in New York State more than doubled from 10% in 1997 to 26% in 2007.
• Childhood obesity causes serious health problems like Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Obese children are at much greater risk of having a heart attack, having a stroke, getting cancer, and losing a limb.
• New York spends $6.1 billion each year to treat obesity-related health problems – the second-highest level of spending in the nation.

• Governor Paterson, working with First Lady Michelle Paterson, unveils a five-point plan to fight obesity. This proposal includes:

• The Healthy Food/Healthy Communities Initiative, which offers a new revolving loan fund that will increase the number of healthy food markets in underserved communities.  
• Banning trans fats in restaurants;
• Requiring calorie posting in chain restaurants;
• Banning junk food sales in schools;
• Placing a tax on sugared beverages like soda.
  • Research has demonstrated that soft-drink consumption is one of the main drivers of childhood obesity. For example, a study by Harvard researchers found that each additional 12-ounce soft drink consumed per day increases the risk of a child becoming obese by 60 percent. For adults, the association is similar.
  • In 1970, the average New Yorker drank the equivalent of about five cans of soda a week. Today, the average New Yorker drinks the equivalent of eleven cans a week.
  • Governor Paterson estimates that an 18 percent tax on these beverages will reduce consumption by five percent.
  • The $404 million this tax would raise next year will go toward funding public health programs, including obesity prevention programs, across New York State.

• First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson will roll out the Healthy Steps to Albany Initiative in five more cities this February to encourage our children to eat right and to exercise.
  • Healthy Steps to Albany is a contest that challenges New York State middle school students to increase their physical activity by competing with each other to walk approximately four million steps in six weeks.
  • It is estimated that this program will serve over 26,000 children and their families.