Bill Text: NY S06115 | 2009-2010 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes the medicaid prescription senior eligibility expansion program in order to extend prescription drug coverage to qualified medicare beneficiaries and special low-income medicare beneficiaries.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-06 - REFERRED TO AGING [S06115 Detail]

Download: New_York-2009-S06115-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         6115
                              2009-2010 Regular Sessions
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                    August 6, 2009
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  Sen.  DIAZ  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
         printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
       AN ACT in relation to increasing access  to  pharmaceuticals  for  needy
         seniors  and the disabled through the expansion of eligibility for the
         medicaid program
         THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section  1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the "medicaid
    2  prescription senior eligibility expansion program".
    3    S 2. Legislative  findings  and  intent.  The  legislature  finds  and
    4  declares  that states are looking for solutions to improve the access of
    5  needy seniors to prescription medicines. Nearly thirty percent of  medi-
    6  care  enrollees  in the state have no coverage for pharmaceuticals, with
    7  nearly a quarter of such enrollees  living  below  the  federal  poverty
    8  level.   Furthermore, millions more elderly and disabled medicare enrol-
    9  lees are underinsured for prescription drugs. A  federal  1115  medicaid
   10  waiver  to extend prescription drug coverage to qualified medicare bene-
   11  ficiaries and special low-income medicare  beneficiaries  would  provide
   12  meaningful  access  to prescription drugs for the state's poor and near-
   13  poor senior population. The legislature further  finds  that  a  federal
   14  1115  medicaid  waiver enables the state to benefit from the well estab-
   15  lished state-federal partnership in medicaid through access  to  federal
   16  matching funds in addition to state funds.
   17    S 3. Definitions. As used in this act:
   18    1. "Department" means the department of health;
   19    2.  "Qualified  medicare  beneficiaries"  means medicare beneficiaries
   20  with incomes equal to or below one hundred percent of the federal pover-
   21  ty level who are eligible for medicaid assistance for  the  Part  A  and
   22  Part  B  medicare premiums and for medicare deductibles and co-insurance
   23  requirements as set forth in section 1905(p)(1)  of  title  XIX  of  the
   24  social security act; and
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD09921-01-9
       S. 6115                             2
    1    3.  "Specified low-income medicare beneficiaries" means medicare bene-
    2  ficiaries who have incomes greater  than  one  hundred  percent  of  the
    3  federal  poverty  level  and  less  than and equal to one hundred twenty
    4  percent of the federal poverty level and meet the requirements set forth
    5  in section 1902(a)(10) (E)(iii) of title XIX of the social security act.
    6    S  4.  Medicaid  prescription senior eligibility expansion program. 1.
    7  There is hereby established a medicaid prescription  senior  eligibility
    8  expansion program. In order to become eligible for the program, an indi-
    9  vidual must meet the following requirements:
   10    a. be a United States citizen or a lawfully admitted alien;
   11    b. be a state resident;
   12    c.  be  at  least sixty-five years of age or an individual between the
   13  ages of nineteen and sixty-four who is otherwise eligible  for  benefits
   14  under title II of the social security act;
   15    d. meet the definition of a qualified medicare beneficiary or a speci-
   16  fied  low-income  medicare  beneficiary as set forth in section three of
   17  this act; and
   18    e. be ineligible for and/or not receiving a prescription drug  benefit
   19  through  a  medicare  supplemental policy or any other third party payer
   20  prescription benefit.
   21    2. Individuals eligible for the medicaid prescription senior eligibil-
   22  ity expansion program shall be entitled  to  the  medicaid  prescription
   23  drug  coverage  as provided to medicaid recipients as set forth in title
   24  XIX of the social security act.
   25    S 5. Program administration. 1. The department  shall  administer  the
   26  medicaid prescription senior eligibility expansion program.
   27    2.  The  department  shall  apply  for  a federal medicare 1115 demon-
   28  stration waiver from the federal secretary of health and human  services
   29  to  expand  medicaid  eligibility  for the purposes of prescription drug
   30  coverage to qualified medicare beneficiaries  and  specified  low-income
   31  medicare  beneficiaries under the medicaid prescription senior eligibil-
   32  ity expansion program.
   33    3. The department shall promulgate and adopt rules and regulations  as
   34  are  necessary  to implement the provisions of the medicaid prescription
   35  senior eligibility expansion program in a cost effective manner that are
   36  consistent with the purposes of such program.
   37    S 6. Annual report. The department shall submit an  annual  report  to
   38  the  legislature  beginning  one year from the date of implementation of
   39  the medicaid prescription senior eligibility expansion program.
   40    S 7. This act shall take effect immediately.