New York State Budget Includes ACA-Type Protections

New York’s state budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, approved by the State Legislature on March 31, included provisions that codify into state law the primary consumer protections of the federal Affordable Care Act. In a public announcement, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, “We have codified many of the protections of Obamacare, so regardless of what President Trump does, we know that we have a healthcare program in New York that will protect New Yorkers.”

The omnibus budget legislation, which was due by April 1, will preserve the state’s health insurance exchange, or marketplace, and includes requirements that health insurers in the state offer coverage for 10 “essential health benefits” and do not limit coverage based upon pre-existing conditions. Insurers must also provide coverage for in-vitro fertilization and medically necessary fertility preservation treatments, also known as egg-freezing.

The legislation also restored $550 million in new Medicaid funding for hospitals and nursing homes, which Gov. Cuomo had previously proposed to eliminate when a projection of tax revenues came in lower than expected, and increases overall state spending on healthcare.