The New York State Department of Health (DOH) Maternal Mortality Review Board has released a new report, providing a detailed review of maternal deaths across the state between 2018 and 2020. Here are the findings: Overall, the prevalence of maternal mortality in New York State remains below the national average; however, racial disparities in maternal outcomes unfortunately tell a different story. Nationally, Black mothers die at more than double the rate of White mothers. In New York, Black mothers die at five times the rate of White mothers. Black mothers in New York have a higher prevalenc ..read more

The One-House Budgets are released! The Senate One-House Budget includes a significant portion of the HCFANY policy agenda, building on the Governor’s proposals in the Executive Budget. We’re still studying what is included in each bill, here’s what we know so far: Good news: the Senate and Assembly One-House Budgets both: Ban cost-sharing for insulin for enrollees in State-regulated health insurance plans Improve affordability of Marketplace plans via premium assistance/ cost-sharing subsidies Adopt Kids Coverage to ensure children up to age 6 remain continuously covered in Medicai ..read more

HCFANY is grateful to have had the opportunity to testify at the 2024 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Health. Our detailed written comments are linked here. The Executive Budget includes many positive proposals that will help protect consumers from medical debt and enhance their ability to access affordable health coverage, including: Modernizing the State’s Hospital Financial Assistance Law Eliminating all cost-sharing for insulin for New York State-regulated plans Guaranteeing continuous health coverage for children up to 6 years of age Improving subsidies and benefits for public h ..read more

Today, Governor Hochul delivered her 2024 ‘State of the State’ address. HCFANY commends the governor for proposing sweeping protections for consumers and patients across the state. HCFANY advocacy goals are prominently featured among the governor’s proposals, including: Medical Debt HCFANY commends the governor for her continued commitment to protecting the over 700,000 New Yorkers that face medical debt. Governor Hochul’s proposed legislation would bring them relief by expanding eligibility for hospital financial assistance while limiting monthly payments and the interest providers can charge ..read more

New Yorkers bracing for health insurance premiums in the individual market are in for some unwelcome news as we look ahead to 2024. According to the latest data, individual market rates are set to surge by an average of 12.4 percent next year. Health plans had initially requested a whopping 22.1 percent average rate hike for 2024, but the Department of Financial Services has managed to trim down this figure through New York’s prior approval process. The table below presents a comparison of the health plans’ original rate hike requests and the rates that were ultimately approved, giving you ins ..read more

Guest post by Faith Daniels, MPH You deserve a say in health system transactions that impact your access to healthcare. In New York and many other states, hospitals must receive approval from state regulators (and sometimes from local zoning officials) like the New York State Department of Health, before they can make major changes, such as merging with other hospitals or with large health systems, eliminating services, relocating services, opening facilities or closing  facilities entirely. In New York and some other states, this approval process is called Certificate of Need (or CON), s ..read more

HCFANY worked hard to further a series of important priorities during this year’s budget and legislative session. Read below for a review of what consumers won this legislative session and what remains a priority on the HCFANY policy agenda. Medical Debt Over 54,000 New Yorkers were sued by hospitals between 2015 and 2020, and nearly 1.2 million have past due medical debt on their credit reports. Health care prices in New York are some of the highest in the country. HCFANY applauds the Hochul Administration for requiring that the State Department of Health adopt a uniform application for Hospi ..read more

New York’s individual market premiums might increase by up to 20.4 percent in 2024. New York’s twelve individual market carriers are requesting increases ranging from 13.3 percent by MVP to a shocking 52.8 percent by Emblem. These requested increases far surpass requests from carriers in other states. Carriers in Washington and Michigan are proposing increases of just 9 percent and 5 percent respectively, despite having comparable individual markets.  Rate increases mean New Yorkers would spend a greater share of their budget on health care and less on food, transportation, and other nece ..read more

Two new laws will protect New Yorkers from medical debt in 2023. The first bill, signed by Governor Hochul in November, stops all medical providers from garnishing patients’ wages or placing liens on their homes to collect medical debt judgments (S.6522A/A.7363A). The second bill, signed last week, reforms the practice of imposing facility fees by requiring hospitals and their affiliated providers to notify patients in advance if they charge facility fees and bans the fees for preventive care (S.2521C/A.3470C). Property liens and wage garnishments were two of the worst consequences for patient ..read more

Guest Post By Missy Genadri, Economic Mobility and Health Policy Associate | Children’s Defense Fund – New York The COVID-19 pandemic has unequivocally laid bare the deep-rooted and irrefutable racial and ethnic health disparities that have long negatively impacted New Yorkers of color – and the devastating consequences such disparities can have.  But our State’s wide-ranging racial inequities are not limited to health outcomes or access to care; they encompass such broad areas as economic security and mobility, educational opportunity, involvement in the child welfare system and workforc ..read more