Summary

Despite enactment last year of provisions to extend coverage to hundreds of thousands of children and adults, the numbers of the uninsured in the state is once again on the rise (to 2.7 million).  Monitoring is necessary to ensure that the goals of last year’s actions are met and that potential coverage gaps and solutions are identified.  Additional action must also be taken to address the chronic problem of the uninsured.  The study of mechanisms to achieve universal access to health care, put into place in last year’s budget, together with the input gathered in last Fall’s Partnership for Coverage hearings, have laid the necessary groundwork for examining proposed solutions.

Conference Position

In response to the administration’s call for comment on possible approaches in its testimony before the Partnership for Coverage hearings, the Conference advanced the following major proposals:

1. Continued aggressive outreach and enrollment for the Medicaid, Family Health Plus and Child Health Plus
2. Expansion of premium subsidies for and vigorous promotion of the HealthyNY program
3. Development and promotion of purchasing pools, cooperatives and association plans
4. Continued employer and/or employee buy-ins into public insurance programs
5. Expansion of and increased public subsidies for high-risk pools
6. Continued exploration of streamlined, comprehensive coverage plans

Rationale

The Catholic Bishops on the state and national level have long held that access to appropriate health care is an inherent right of every individual based on the intrinsic dignity of each human being.  While significant advances were made in the 2007 session, the success of these efforts cannot be assured without adequate monitoring and evaluation.  In addition, it is clear that efforts to date have not been adequate to address the issue of lack of access to health care for millions of New Yorkers.

The state, in conjunction with business, labor, providers, payors, and consumers, should carefully examine available mechanisms which can be employed at the state level to foster greater affordable access to health care without disruption to efforts underway for job creation and economic stability for individuals and families.