NYS Assembly Unanimously Passes Aging Chair Seawright’s Bills to Expand Homecare and Respite Care Without a Prescription and to Mandate the Health Commissioner to Report on Use of Elder Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Program (EPIC)
Major wins for aging community follows recent passage of Seawright legislation to reauthorize the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
Albany, NY – Assembly Member Rebecca A. Seawright, Chair of the Assembly Aging Committee announced the unanimous passage of legislation to elevate the system of care, identify potential cost savings, and advance quality of life for New York’s nearly five million older adults.
Today’s legislative victories for aging New Yorkers follows passage of Seawright’s bill to reauthorize the state’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP); the ombudsman is charged with resolving problems that residents face and implementing changes to improve the quality of life and care within Long-Term Care facilities.
Assembly Bill 7907 greatly expands access to the Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP), a critical initiative that extends an elder’s ability to age in their own home or community, versus more costly institutional care, by eliminating the physician’s prescription requirement for non-medical in-home-, respite care-, and ancillary services.The bill also empowers Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) who are responsible for coordinating EISEP services by disposing of cost-sharing analysis requirements, which had proven to be fiscally unsound and counterproductive, unburdening these offices to focus on more efficient service delivery.
Assembly Bill 8090 requires the State Department of Health to produce a report for the Governor on the 2022-26 utilization of the elderly pharmaceutical insurance coverage (EPIC) program, including granular data on enrollees – such as the total number and the percentage who are Medicare Savings program-eligible and benefits, like the number of participating provider pharmacies.More than 325,000 income-eligible seniors aged 65 receive affordable prescription medication in New York State. However, there have been numerous changes to EPIC in the past several years. This report would analyze trends, evaluate cost containment, and provide enrollment and cost projections for 2027-28. With this information, legislators would be better equipped to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the program to serve more older New Yorkers.
"As Committee Chair, I am pleased that my colleagues and I have today secured further advancements for the health and quality of life of aging New Yorkers, as well as increased efficiencies and taxpayer cost savings,” said Assembly Member Seawright, who chairs the Assembly's Aging Committee. The Aging Committee oversees legislation and agencies affecting New York's nearly 5 million older adults' quality of life and independence. This includes 60,000 New Yorkers over 65 in her district, the largest concentration in Manhattan.Rebecca A. Seawright represents the Upper East Side, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island in New York’s 76th Assembly District. Since her 2014 election, and as the first woman to serve the district, Assembly Member Seawright has been a strong voice for over 140,000 constituents, securing hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding for public schools, senior centers, parks, and non-profits. She was the Assembly lead sponsor of the ERA to our New York State Constitution. Voters ratified the amendment as a ballot referendum in the 2024 general election.