Relates to creating the traumatic brain injury trust fund

1 Co-sponsor

• Martin J. Golden

Title of bill

An act to amend the state finance law and the public health law, in relation to the creation of the traumatic brain injury trust fund

Purpose

To create the traumatic brain injury trust fund.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 amends the state finance law by adding a new section 99-y, creating the traumatic brain injury fund. Section 99-y provides that monies of the fund shall be expended only to qualified individuals not eligible for Medicaid funded, or otherwise insurance covered, traumatic brain injury programs and services. A qualified individual must provide medical documentation of a traumatic brain injury, as defined by section two thousand seven hundred forth-one of the public health law; New York residency for at least ninety consecutive days prior to application date; and proof of less than one hundred thousand dollars in liquid assets. Payments from the fund shall be capped at three thousand dollars per individual per year, with a lifetime cap of one hundred thousand dollars per individual.

Section 2 amends subdivisions 9 and 10 of section 2742 of the public health law and adds a new subdivision 11.

Section 3 is the effective date.

Justification

Traumatic brain injury is one of the major contributing factors to all injury-related death in the United State (U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). In New York, there were more than 140,000 incidents with a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury in 2009 and more than 2,000 deaths were related to traumatic brain injury (NYSDOH, 2011). According to the New York State Department of Health's Five Year Traumatic Brain Injury Action in 2012, the current New York State TBI program provides the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Waiver that serves over 2,700 persons annually. The waiver uses Medicaid funding to provide supports and services to assist individuals with a TBI toward successful inclusion in the community by allowing waiver participants move from a nursing facility to the community.

However, because the waiver serves only Medicaid eligible individuals with a nursing home level of care need injured between the ages of 18 and 64, a small percentage of individuals in the state living with TBI access the specialized community services available through the waiver. Therefore, this legislation would establish a TBI Trust Fund to support the cost of certain TBI services for those who are not eligible for Medicaid funded or other insurance covered programs and services.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

Immediately.