Establishes the medicaid outreach and enrollment program to help identify those medicare enrollees who are eligible for medicaid services but who are not participating, through outreach initiatives.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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3261
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 29, 2019
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Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ, RIVERA, COLTON, ARROYO, PERRY -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Aging
AN ACT in relation to increasing access to medicines for needy seniors
through the outreach to and enrollment of eligible Medicare benefici-
aries in the Medicaid program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "medicaid
2 outreach and enrollment for qualifying medicare beneficiaries program".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds and
4 declares that almost thirty percent of medicare enrollees have no cover-
5 age for pharmaceuticals. Of that number nearly twenty-five percent are
6 living below the federal poverty level. Under the medicaid program the
7 state of New York provides pharmaceutical coverage for qualifying indi-
8 viduals. There are many medicare beneficiaries in New York that qualify
9 for medicaid services but are not enrolled and participating in the
10 program. The legislature further finds that the medicaid outreach and
11 enrollment for qualifying medicare beneficiaries program will identify
12 those medicare enrollees who are eligible for medicaid services, but are
13 not participating, through outreach initiatives.
14 § 3. Medicaid outreach and enrollment program. There is hereby estab-
15 lished the medicaid outreach and enrollment program ("program"). The
16 program shall be administered by the department of health. The depart-
17 ment of health shall implement and administer the program through the
18 development of outreach initiatives to identify medicaid-eligible medi-
19 care beneficiaries who are not participating in the medicaid program and
20 to promote and encourage enrollment of these eligible individuals in the
21 medicaid program. Initiatives may include, but shall not be limited to,
22 mailings, advertisements, public service announcements, literature
23 dissemination and community outreach.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07458-01-9
A. 3261 2
1 § 4. The department of health shall report to the legislature on an
2 annual basis commencing one year after the implementation of the
3 provisions of the program. The report shall include the baseline number
4 of medicare beneficiaries who were medicaid eligible at the beginning of
5 the previous year; the number of medicaid-eligible beneficiaries who
6 were medicare beneficiaries who were targeted via the program; the
7 number of medicaid-eligible medicare beneficiaries who enrolled in medi-
8 caid in a given year and any information of enrollment via the program;
9 a description of the outreach initiatives utilized by the program; and a
10 detailed accounting of how funding was utilized.
11 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
