Advocacy
 

Governor Cuomo Announces 2019-2020 Budget, $74B Allocated for Healthcare Spending

On January 16^th 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled his 2019-2020 executive budget of $175 billion. $74 billion for healthcare spending is proposed, with another $5.36 billion for mental hygiene.

The proposed budget will now be reviewed, debated and negotiated by the two houses of the State Legislature (the Senate and the Assembly). The final budget must be passed by March 31, 2019. Below are most notable elements of the proposed budget relating to healthcare:

• Legislation to raise the minimum sales age for tobacco and E-cigarette products from 18 to 21 and end their sale in pharmacies. Clarify the Department of Health’s authority to ban the sale of certain flavored E-cigarette liquids. Introduce a tax on E-cigarettes and require that they be sold only through licensed retailers.
• Legalizing recreational use of marijuana for adults aged 21 and above. This could bring $300 million per year in tax revenue, once established.
• An expansive Reproductive Justice and Women’s Equality agenda, including among many other things, addressing Roe v. Wade in the NYS Constitution, improving access to reproductive services, addressing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and expanding rural telehealth services for prenatal care
• Doctors Across New York and other Workforce programs continued at previously funded levels – DANY provides funding of $120,000 for loan repayment or practice start up costs for physicians looking to practice in New York State communities of need for a minimum of 3 years.Other workforce programs funded include continuation of Empire Clinical Research Investigators Program, AHEC (pipeline training/education) the ambulatory care training program, workforce studies, and diversity in medicine as well as rural access development.
• The medical liability excess fund is also continued.

To read more about what is in Governor Cuomo's budget, please click here.

Drug Take Back Program Begins in New York State

From NY Assemblymember John T. McDonald III

The New York State Drug Take Back Act went into effect January 6, creating a statewide drug takeback program – paid for by drug manufacturers, not taxpayers (Ch. 120 of 2018). The program requires participation by all chain and mail-order pharmacies doing business in the state and is part of the Assembly Majority’s continued efforts to fight the opioid epidemic and save lives. The Assembly previously led the push for “I-STOP,” creating the first real-time prescription-drug database in the country.
 
Opioid overdoses took the lives of more than 42,000 Americans in 2016. In New York, the rate of opioid overdose deaths doubled between 2010 and 2015. The nationwide crisis has reached such epidemic proportions that life expectancy in the U.S. has decreased for the second time in three years.
 
The new law requires all drug manufacturers to implement a takeback program in which both chain and mail-order pharmacies offer on-site collection or prepaid envelopes for New Yorkers to dispose of unused medication. Opioid addiction often begins with the use of prescription painkillers, whether obtained legitimately through a doctor or illegally from someone else’s medicine cabinet, and that the program will help cut off supply. The program will also help ensure that these drugs are not improperly disposed of by flushing down the toilet or throwing them in the trash, which can cause them to seep into the water supply.
 
To learn more please read Assembymember McDonald's full blog piece here