Authorizes the commissioner of health to adopt policies to exclude certain non-recurring items from income that would artificially inflate the availability of funds to meet current needs relating to eligibility for the program for elderly pharmaceutical insurance coverage.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3600
SPONSOR: Seawright 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 OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
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, which
defines income for the EPIC program and creates an exclusion for "nonre-
curring items that would act to artificially inflate the availability of
funds to meet current needs."Section 2 provides for an effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
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 401 K or
other retirement account, an employer buyout or severance package,
lottery or casino winnings, or inheritances. These onetime influxes of
money can inflate a person's household gross income and take them off
the EPIC program for a year and force them to pay for drugs out of pock-
et until they are able to qualify again the following year.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A8411/Kim, Referred to Aging S716/Cleare, Referred to Aging
2021-2022: A1459/Dinowitz, Referred to Aging
2019-2020: A3380/Dinowitz, Referred to Aging
2017-2018: A3704/Dinowitz, Referred to Ways and Means
2015-2016: A1190/Dinowitz, Referred to Ways and Means 5146/Diaz,
Referred to Aging
2013-2014: A349/Dinowitz, Referred to Ways and Means S345/Diaz, Referred
to Aging
2011-2012: A243/Dinowitz, Referred to Aging A122/Diza, Referred to
Finance II
2009-2010: A8044/Dinowitz, Referred to Ways and Means S5457/Diaz,
Referred to Finance
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3600
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 29, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEAWRIGHT -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Aging
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:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 241 of the elder law is amended to
2 read as follows:
3 3. "Income" shall mean "household gross income" as defined in the real
4 property tax circuit breaker credit program, pursuant to subparagraph
5 [(C)] (c) of paragraph one of subsection (e) of section six hundred six
6 of the tax law, but only shall include the income of program applicants
7 and spouses and shall exclude the income of other members of the house-
8 hold; provided, however, that the commissioner of health may adopt poli-
9 cies to exclude from income certain non-recurring items that would act
10 to artificially inflate the availability of funds to meet current needs
11 including, but not limited to, a retiree's previous year's wages, and
12 non-recurring distributions from an individual retirement account.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01879-01-5
