Referred to: The Public Health and Social Services Committee (Chairman Lopez and

Legislators Allen, Belfiglio, Heppner, and Roberts)

Legislator Chris Allen, Deputy Chairman of the Health and Social Services

Committee, and Legislator Belfiglio offer the following:

 WHEREAS, prior to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, ACA, in

2010, United States’ Consumers of health insurance plans were contractually subject

to pre-existing condition clauses that excluded them from receiving medical

treatment and coverage for all types of illnesses and medical conditions including

potentially deadly ones like cancer; and

WHEREAS, prior to 2010 and the enactment of the ACA, most health

insurance policies did not cover dependents of the primary insured customers up to

the age of 26, and it was not a required provision of all U.S. Health Insurance Plans;

and

WHEREAS, prior to the enactment of the ACA, it was not a requirement of

health insurance plans to have no lifetime-based coverage limits; and

 WHEREAS, the enactment of the ACA provided opportunities for tens of

millions of Americans to obtain health insurance through the open exchange even if

they had pre-existing conditions; and

 WHEREAS, millions more Americans obtained health insurance since 2010

and the enactment of the ACA through the open exchange market and through the

Federal Government’s expansion of Medicaid funding to State Governments to cover

state residents who qualify for health insurance coverage because of their income

lev

WHEREAS, the rates of uninsured Americans are much higher in states where

the income thresholds are at a lower income level in order for state residents to

qualify for state-provided health insurance and in states that refused to expand their

state programs under the expansion of federal funding to Medicaid under the ACA;

and

WHEREAS, most low-cost catastrophic-based health insurance plans provide

no medical coverage or treatment until a high annual and yearly deductible is met

which typically exceeds $7,000-$14,000 per plan year; and

WHEREAS, since 2005, New York State pays 50% of the unreimbursed costs

associated with acute care and long-term care of Medicaid patients in respective New

York State counties including Ulster County; and

WHEREAS, if the current Congress and Executive Branch change the existing

and established Medicaid reimbursement methodology of dispersing Medicaid

funding to individual states like New York, then Ulster County could lose out on

significant amounts of funding, as New York State could change the current fixedrate formula through which it reimburses counties resulting in potentially higher

property taxes and a reduction in government services; and

 WHEREAS, if the ACA is fully repealed without an immediate replacement

plan in place that does not exclude consumers of health insurance plans because of

pre-existing conditions or to those who are dependents of the age of 26 and under,

23.1 million people could lose their health insurance, including 1.4 million young

adults on parents’ plans; and

 WHEREAS, a full repeal of the ACA without an immediate and comparable

replacement plan would cause many residents of New York and Ulster County to

lose their health insurance, as an estimated 2.7 million New Yorkers would lose

coverage, including 19,850 individuals in Ulster County; and

 WHEREAS, a full repeal of the ACA without a comparable and immediate

replacement plan and a change in the Medicaid reimbursement system would cause

New York State to lose $595 million in additional Medicaid funding which gets

distributed to New York counties and helps to lower county-level property taxes;

and

WHEREAS, Ulster County would lose $2,935,566 in allocated annual

funding; and

WHEREAS, some employers have responded to employer-based mandates

that require employers to provide insurance to employees who work 30 hours-perweek by reducing workweek hours to under 30 hours per week which has created an

entire new class of working poor who do not earn much income, have no insurance,

and are unable to apply for insurance through their states of residency because they

make too much money to qualify for State-provided insurance; and

WHEREAS, the Ulster County Legislature believes that the residents of New

York State and Ulster County should be eligible to keep their existing insurance

plans available to them under the ACA and have the opportunity to obtain insurance

plans under the open exchange market, or apply for the current insurance coverage

benefits available to residents of Ulster County through New York State and Ulster

County Social Services; and

RESOLVED WHEREAS, the Ulster County Legislature urges Congress and

the Executive Branch to examine assisting individual states to implement indigent

care-based medical clinics that are based on a sliding scale of income levels which

would provide medical treatment to those who are still uninsured, as such clinics

exist in the State of Colorado and other states, and are currently funded by Federal

Medicaid funding; now, therefore be it

 RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature opposes a full repeal of the

Affordable Care Act without a comparable replacement plan to be immediately put in

its place that allows consumers of health insurance to not be charged more for preexisting conditions or to be discriminated against for pre-existing conditions and to

have a continuance for insurance plans to have no lifetime coverage caps, and for

plans to allow for dependents aged 26 and under to stay on the primary insured’s

plan; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature urges Congress and the

Executive Branch to research and examine how the rates of catastrophic health

insurance plans can be reduced, for such plans to have lower spending caps prior to

coverage and treatment plans kicking in, and for such plans to provide basic annual

health screenings and check-ups for men’s and women’s health issues; and, be it

further 

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature urges Congress and the

Executive Branch to examine assisting individual states to implement indigent carebased medical clinics that are based on a sliding scale of income levels which would

provide medical treatment to those who are still uninsured, as such clinics exist in the

State of Colorado and other states, and are currently funded by Federal Medicaid

funding; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature urges Congress and the

Executive Branch to examine how improvements can be made upon the gaps (also

known as the “donut hole”) that exist in co-pay based coverage that Medicaid has for

prescription drugs which forces such recipients to pay out-of-pocket costs for certain

prescription drugs that are not fully covered under Medicaid; and, be it further

resolved

RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall forward

copies of this resolution to U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand,

U.S. Congressman John Faso, Hon. Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the New York

State Association of Counties (NYSAC),

and moves its adoption.

 ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

 AYES: NOES:

Passed Committee: Public Health and Social Services as amended on February 27,

2017

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE