Every September, healthcare providers see a rise in asthma-related hospitalizations. The third week of September is known as Asthma Peak Week; ragweed levels—a common fall pollen allergy—are peaking, mold counts are increasing as leaves start to fall, children are catching respiratory infections as they go back to school, and flu season is just beginning. Proper asthma control is essential to stay healthy and manage symptoms during this month. However, for many, healthcare costs are making it difficult to manage or control their symptoms.    

In New York, asthma impacts more than 1.4 million adults and an estimated 315,000 children, according to the New York State Department of Health and the US Center for Disease Control, respectively as of 2021. The price of asthma inhalers, a lifesaving and sustaining device, has drastically increased over the past decade and can cost an individual up to $645 a month, according to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). At these high prices, some patients are rationing doses or even abandoning their inhalers—which can lead to unnecessary hospitalizations and even preventable deaths. Though with insurance, patients share the cost of an inhaler with their insurance provider through a deductible or copayment—even those with health coverage struggle to afford inhalers.

Asthma rates and asthma-related complications disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income communities in New York. Black New Yorkers are over nine times more likely to visit the Emergency Department (ED) for asthma-related complications than their White counterparts—four times more likely for Hispanic New Yorkers. Asthma-related ED visits are also three times as frequent for individuals in low-income zip codes when compared to those in higher-income zip codes. Asthma is an apparent public health issue affecting those already facing economic and environmental disparities.

Earlier this year, with pressure from the HELP committee and Senator Bernie Sanders, three of the largest producers of inhalers—AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, and GlaxoSmithKline—agreed to cap their inhaler products, for both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, at $35 or less per month. This price cap will be available for those on commercial insurance and those uninsured, which will be automatically applied at local pharmacies or accessed with a copay card. However, those enrolled in government insurance programs, like Medicare or Medicaid, are left behind due to federal restrictions.

Luckily, New York legislators, Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas and State Senator Gustavo Rivera, have proposed a bill to remove this financial barrier by eliminating deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing requirements for inhalers and require insurance coverage for inhalers at no cost. González-Rojas introduced this legislation because of its significance to her district, representing communities in Queens, that have high rates of hospitalization due to asthma. Rivera represents the northwest Bronx, a borough with substantially higher asthma mortality rates than other New York City boroughs. We commend both González-Rojas and Rivera for taking these necessary actions in trying to address New York’s asthma crisis.

Minnesota and Illinois, Washington, and New Jersey have passed similar legislation that caps the cost-sharing requirements of inhalers at $25, $35, and $50 per month, respectively. We need New York to step up to the plate to save lives and treat asthma. “This smart bill will ensure that insurance cost-sharing is never a barrier to accessing life-sustaining inhalers for those who need it,” said Elisabeth R. Benjamin, Vice President of Health Initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York.  

Ellen, a Long Islander, received an unexpected and unwelcomed bill from a hospital system when she went to her doctor’s office for a biopsy.  She was not anticipating a “net facility charge” of $2,142 which she was not informed of.   She protests that she was not provided with any notice that she would be charged extra for a facility charge when she was visiting a doctor.  She also received a bill for net charges of $618.07 from the Doctor.  “Had I known that was the billing practice, I would not have visited this doctor,” she says.

She adds, “There was nothing from the doctor or her staff, or from the circumstances of the procedure, that would have indicated to me that I was being treated at a hospital.  Both the examination and the procedure took place in a typical examining room at the doctor’s office. I was not even placed on a special chair for the procedure— I was wearing my street clothes.”  The facility fee is not a charge for an actual health service.  As of now, it is a legal way for the hospital that bought your doctor’s office or clinic to add the hospital’s overhead cost to your doctor’s bill.  Health Insurance often will not pay these facility fees, leaving the patient stuck with the bill, uninsured patients are always stuck with these facility fee bills. 

A new bill, the (A3470B/S2521B), would regulate these health care facility fees and provide some semblance of protection by not allowing a provider to seek payment of these fees if not covered by insurance, unless they had notified and explained the fee and amount at least seven days in advance of the procedure.  If approved by the New York State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, the would ensure that patients will no longer be held responsible for this kind of surprise bill and what happened to Ellen will no longer happen to any other New Yorker. The bill would also prevent facility fees for preventive care – New York will be the first state to do so if it passes!

Each year, the Department of Financial Services reviews applications from insurers in the individual, small group, and Medicare Advantage markets and decides whether rates should go up, down, or stay the same. This year, insurers are asking for an average increase of 11.7% in the individual market, which is too much for consumers to manage especially in the midst of the economic and health-related repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Submit your comments here by July 5.

HCFANY found plenty of reasons in the individual market filings to reduce or even reverse those increase requests. Find your carrier in the list below to see what we had to say!

• CDPHP Health Plan
• Excellus
• Emblem (HIP)
• Fidelis
• HealthFirst
• HealthNow
• HealthPlus (previously Empire)
• Independent Health
• MetroPlus
• MVP Health Plan
• Oscar
• UnitedHealthcare

New York City health care leaders called for more city and state efforts to address health care affordability during a panel discussion this morning at the Community Service Society of New York. Speakers including Dr Mitch Katz, NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO; Rodrigo Sanchez-Camus, Director of Legal Services at NMIC; Mark Levine, Chair of the NYC Council’s Health Committee; and Elisabeth Benjamin, Vice President of Health Initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York. David Sandman, President of the New York State Health Foundation, moderated. (You can view a recording of the event here).

Panelists discussed solutions including a single-payer system, a city-funded consumer assistance program, and an overhaul of medical billing practices that leave patients paying more than they owe out of confusion and fear. The event also served as a launch party for a new grassroots effort called We the Patients (read more here) that gives New Yorkers as opportunity to advocate against unfair health care practices.

The panel was inspired by a survey (available here) which found that 50 percent of people in New York City had taken steps like cutting a pill, not filling a prescription, or skipping a treatment because they could not afford it. Most of the people surveyed had insurance.

Those results show that New Yorkers need help using their health insurance and fighting unfair medical bills. New York pioneered a model for providing that help called the Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program (MCCAP). MCCAP provided technical assistance to people enrolled in Managed Care Plans, including direct advocacy with insurance plans and legal assistance for things like inappropriate claims denials. Today all New Yorkers have access to that assistance through the Community Health Advocates and Navigator programs. Panelists suggested that the City provide its own funding to boost those services because of the disproportionate impact the affordability crisis has on city residents.  

The panel also discussed the role of hospitals and unfair billing practices in New York’s health care affordability crisis. One of the examples included an almost $300 facility fee charged to a person for what should have been a free preventive mammogram because it was provided in a hospital-affiliated practice. Some of the solutions discussed include eliminating the use of facility fees, requiring consolidated and standardized bills, and requiring that all hospitals use standard financial liability waivers so that patients are protected from signing away their rights before receiving medical care. We the Patient’s first petition focuses on seven common billing practices that result in patients owing more than they should (you can sign the petition here).