Three pieces of health legislation closely watched by The Business Council were passed by both houses in the last days of session and could have an enormous impact on health care in New York if passed into law, said the Council’s director of government affairs, Elliott Shaw.
Sole-Proprietor law: A law that allows businesses owned and operated by one person to be eligible for group-rate insurance available through business associations would be extended through December 31, 2008, under the first bill.
The bill also reduces the amount a sole proprietor can be charged from 120 percent above the group rate to 115 percent above the group rate.
“That five percent savings will make a big difference to many individuals around the state,” said Nick DuBray, a legislative analyst at the Council. “More sole proprietors will be able to purchase health insurance.”
Brooklyn Health Works: Both houses of the Legislature passed a bill that would provide funding to a Brooklyn-based health care program modeled on Healthy New York.
Brooklyn Health Works, a partnership between the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and GHI insurance, is modeled on Healthy New York but does not require a minimum contribution from employers and keeps premiums for single employees below $200 per month. The program is only available to businesses in Brooklyn.
The program, which began last August with over 150 enrollees, now has more than 700 employees from 140 businesses enrolled, said Mark Kessler, vice president of member services at the Brooklyn Chamber. “And 96 percent of those employers pay 100 percent of the premium.” Statewide, 53 percent of employers with employees enrolled in Healthy New York pay 100 percent of the premium.
The legislation passed by lawmakers in late June will allow the program to continue.
“The program is an innovative approach to providing more affordable health insurance to small businesses in the community,” Shaw said. “We’re pleased that the state is committed to growing the program and to piloting a similar program in Upstate New York.”
Unions gain access to Healthy New York: New York’s powerful unions will receive $25 million subsidy from taxpayers if the governor signs a bill giving unions a part of Healthy New York.
The bill would give unions a subsidy to create their own taxpayer-funded health-care program for union members. The bill’s passage came soon after the defeat of another union-backed measure for mandated employer-provided health insurance. Advocates of that legislation claimed the new mandate would stem the use of taxpayer-subsidized programs.
“Here are the very same people who come to Albany to show outrage that some large retailers have put people onto government-financed health programs, and they turn around later in the year and literally pulled off the same thing,” Shaw told the Albany Times Union on June 27.
The union program would liberalize eligibility requirements and waive the 12-month waiting period for union-employers only. It would also increase the employee eligibility cap for employers from under 50 to 350. Traditional employers would continue to operate under the same eligibility requirements. In addition, unionized employees would be eligible with higher wages than their non-unionized counterparts.