Assemblywoman
Addie J. Russell (D-Theresa) announced that the 2014-15 state budget makes
significant investments in health care by providing additional funding to
services for seniors, protecting local pharmacies from harmful cuts and
establishing new protections for patients and caregivers. It also provides a long-overdue
cost of living increase of two percent to direct care workers.
Supporting Our
Seniors
The state budget provides $5 million
for the Community Services for the Elderly (CSE) program, as well as $4.1
million for the expansion of eligibility for the Elderly Pharmaceutical
Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program. The budget expands access to EPIC by increasing
the income limit for the deductible plan from $35,000 to $75,000 for those who
are single and $50,000 to $100,000 for those who are married.
“The cost of prescription drugs can
be overwhelming to seniors who live on fixed incomes and face rising costs for
things like fuel and food,” Assemblywoman Russell said. “Expanding eligibility
for the EPIC program will ensure that seniors can maintain a stable and
dignified standard of living.”
Protecting Local
Pharmacies
The final budget rejected a proposal in
the executive budget that would have made damaging changes to the way the
state’s Medicaid program reimburses pharmacies. Governor Cuomo had proposed
setting the price of drugs in a manner that would have cut pharmacy revenue by
more than $80 million, hurting small local and chain pharmacies, putting many
stores at risk for closure.
“Rejecting this new reimbursement scheme
is a major victory for North Country pharmacies that would not be able to
absorb a cut of this magnitude,” Assemblywoman Russell said. “Had this gone
through, pharmacies potentially would have had to cut services like home
delivery that are vital in areas like the North Country.”
Safe Patient Handling
To better protect both patients and
health care professionals, this year's budget establishes the Safe Patient
Handling Act, an initiative that the Assembly has supported for many years. The
Act would require healthcare facilities to establish committees that would
design a specific program for safe patient handling. The finalized state budget
calls for the implementation of the Act by certain healthcare facilities
beginning on January 1, 2017.
“Safe patient handling practices seek to
replace manual lifting and moving tasks with assistive devices to properly and
safely transfer patients without injury to our loved ones or health care workers,”
Assemblywoman Russell noted.
COLA for
Caregivers of the Elderly and Disabled
The state budget includes $13
million to support 2 percent salary increases for direct care workers,
including those caring for those with disabilities at nonprofits licensed by
the state. The first Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) will take place on Jan.
1, 2015, and the second increase will go into effect on April 1, 2015.
“Direct care workers are entrusted
with caring for our most vulnerable loved ones and deserve this increase, a reflection of our appreciation for the enormous
responsibility they take on,” Assemblywoman Russell said. “Providing these long-overdue COLAs will help
efforts to adequately staff facilities with well-qualified
personnel.”
Addressing
Opiate Addiction
Further, to address the alarming rise in
the use of opiates such as heroin, the state budget includes $2 million in
increased funding to enhance services to deal with this crisis, including
substance abuse treatment programs.
The North Country has seen a significant
rise in opiate-related deaths and hospitalizations over the last several years,
Assemblywoman Russell noted.
“This truly a public health crisis and we need
all the resources we can muster – from tougher penalties for drug traffickers
to increased funding for treatment – to combat this deadly scourge.”
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