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- Referred to aging
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to aging
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S2380
Title of bill
An act to amend the elder law, in relation to making certain persons who are eligible for or receiving social security disability insurance benefits eligible for elderly pharmaceutical insurance coverage
Purpose
This bill would add low-income disabled persons to the list of persons eligible to receive benefits from New York's (EPIC) program.
Summary of specific provisions
Amends subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 242 of the elder law to add persons who are eligible for or receiving social security disability insurance (SSDI) to the list of eligible participants in the EPIC program.
Justification
The EPIC program which offers prescription drug assistance has proven helpful to many senior citizens who face high costs for pharmaceuticals, but do not qualify for Medicaid. In recent years, many programs originally designed to benefit senior citizens - ranging from Social Security to real property tax reductions - have been extended to cover disabled persons. This bill recognizes that through no fault of their own, disabled persons may experience similar limitations on their ability to independently earn a living as do elderly citizens.
Advances in pharmaceuticals have also increased their importance in helping disabled persons remain active in their community. Yet, faced with severe income limitations, declining availability of employer-paid health insurance and caps on prescription coverage which are increasingly being implemented by health insurers, many disabled individuals are unable to afford the pharmaceuticals which may be essential to their health. This bill would follow clear precedent in other programs by extending the EPIC program to include low-income disabled individuals.
Prior legislative history
S.3056/A.3917 of 2009-10; S.2644/A.5178 of 2007-08
Fiscal impact
To be determined.
Effective date
On the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.