S122A-2011 Actions

• Jun 5, 2012: REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
• Jan 30, 2012: PRINT NUMBER 122A
• Jan 30, 2012: AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO HEALTH
• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO HEALTH
• May 3, 2011: REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
• Mar 31, 2011: COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO HEALTH
• Feb 22, 2011: NOTICE OF COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION - REQUESTED
• Jan 5, 2011: REFERRED TO AGING

S122A-2011 Meetings

S122A-2011 Votes

S122A-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S122A

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the elder law, in relation to policies excluding certain
non-recurring items from income for purposes of the program for elderly
pharmaceutical insurance coverage

PURPOSE:
To exclude non-recurring income from the definition of "income" for
the purposes of eligibility for the EPIC program.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 - Amends subdivision 3 of section 241 of the Elder Law.
Defines income for the EPIC program. Authorizes the Commissioner of
Health to adopt policies to create an exclusion for "non-recurring
items that would act to artificially inflate the availability of
funds to meet current needs."

Section 2 - Effective Date

EXISTING LAW:
The current EPIC statute makes no provision for the exclusion of
certain types of income.

JUSTIFICATION:
There are more than 300,000 seniors in New York State that rely on the
EPIC program for access to low cost, high quality prescription drugs.
Qualification for this program is based on income and it is fair to
say that most of the enrollees are middle class, middle income
people, and in some cases lower income people. What this legislation
aims to do is exempt non-recurring income from the definition of
income for the EPIC program. Non-recurring income can include
withdrawals from a 401K or other retirement account an employer
buyout or severance package, lottery or casino winnings or
inheritances. These one-time influxes of money can inflate a persons
household gross income and take them off the EPIC program for a year
and force them to pay for drugs out of pocket until they are able to
qualify again the following year.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2011:    S.122 - Reported and Committed to Finance/A.243 - Reported,
         Referred to Ways and Means
2009-10: S.5457 - Reported and Committed
         to Finance/A.8044 - Reported Referred to Ways and Means

FINANCIAL IMPLICATION TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

S122A-2011 Text

 S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 
 122--A
 2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 I N  SENATE
 (PREFILED)
 January 5, 2011
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  DIAZ  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Aging  --  recommitted  to
 the  Committee  on  Health in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -
 committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
 recommitted to said committee
 

AN ACT to amend the elder law, in relation to policies excluding certain
 non-recurring items from income for purposes of the program for elder
 ly pharmaceutical insurance coverage
 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 241 of the elder law is amended to
 read as follows:

 3. "Income" shall mean "household gross income" as defined in the real
 property tax circuit breaker credit program,  pursuant  to  subparagraph
 [(C)]  (C) of paragraph one of subsection (e) of section six hundred six
 of the tax law, but only shall include the income of program  applicants
 and  spouses and shall exclude the income of other members of the house
 hold; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT THE COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH MAY ADOPT POLI
 CIES TO EXCLUDE FROM INCOME CERTAIN NON-RECURRING ITEMS THAT  WOULD  ACT
 TO  ARTIFICIALLY INFLATE THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS TO MEET CURRENT NEEDS
 INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, A RETIREE'S PREVIOUS  YEAR'S  WAGES,  AND
 NON-RECURRING DISTRIBUTIONS FROM AN INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNT.
 

S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD03235-03-2

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