One of the bills that will make its way to the Governor’s desk this summer will protect infants who qualify for Child Health Plus, the state’s free or low cost health insurance program for children, from a coverage gap at birth. Currently, a family must enroll a child after the child’s birth and coverage begins […]
As the 2015 state legislative session draws to a close this week, a troublesome “rate review”/”prior approval” bill has come up last minute and appears to be moving. The bill would weaken New York’s landmark prior approval system where state regulators review and revise health insurance annual premium rate increases. See HCFANY’s statement of […]
New York’s Prior Approval law protects consumers Each year health insurance companies in New York submit applications to the Department of Financial Services (DFS) that explain their requests to raise, lower, or maintain the premiums they charge consumers for health insurance coverage. Thanks to a strong state law, New York’s DFS can reduce rate […]
NYS legislators approved the 2015-2016 State Enacted Budget in the wee hours of April Fool’s Day last week (no joke). As always, HCFANY groups had worked hard to promote strong health insurance provisions. Here’s where things landed when it comes to key consumer health care priorities: Consumer Assistance Funding: The final budget contains $3 million […]