Governor Kathy Hochul announces proposal to ban insulin co-pays (January 2, 2024)
Governor Kathy Hochul has announced a proposal to eliminate co-pays on insulin.
Hochul, unveiling proposals ahead of her 2024 State of the State address on January 9, said the proposed legislation would ban the copays, ” This will be the most expansive, most expansive insulin cost sharing prohibition in the nation, and it’ll give financial relief to over 1.6 million New Yorkers. I’m very proud of this one because every family we know, everybody knows someone who’s been touched by diabetes.”
Hochul said the proposal is estimated to save New Yorkers an estimated $14 million in 2025 alone.
According to the American Diabetes Association, people with diabetes have medical expenses that are 2.3 times higher than people who do not have diabetes and the impact is even larger for communities of color, which face disproportionately high diagnosis rates.
Hochul also announced a plan to increase the maximum benefit for paid medical and disability leave for the first time in 35 years. The plan would amend the disability law to increase the maximum weekly benefit over the next five years and tie it to the Statewide Average Weekly Wage (SAWW). To match the paid family leave benefit, for the first 12 weeks of medical leave, eligible employees would receive 67% of their average weekly wage, capped at 67% of the Statewide Average Weekly Wage, once fully phased in after five years.
The maximum paid benefit available to New Yorkers who need time off from work to address their own health needs, including for any pregnancy-related conditions, has been capped at $170/week since 1989.
Hochul said she also will introduce legislation to update and expand New York’s hospital financial assistance law to better protect New Yorkers from medical debt. This legislation will limit hospitals’ ability to sue patients earning less than 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($120,000 for a family of four). The legislation would also expand hospital financial assistance programs for low-income New Yorkers, limit the size of monthly payments and interest charged for medical debt and implement other protections to improve access to financial assistance and mitigate the effects of medical debt on New Yorkers.
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