Hochul proposals would raise disability benefit for workers, end insulin copay

ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday proposed a big increase in the top disability benefit for workers as well as additional legal protections for consumers and for students trying to repay college loans. She also called for more safeguards for families facing high medical bills and a ban on copays for insulin.

The proposals will be part of her State of State address in the State Assembly chamber on Tuesday, in which she will release 24 initiatives to help set the year’s legislative agenda. She said additional early rollouts of her State of the State proposals will be done this week for education, public health and the need to expand housing statewide.

“These proposals have one objective: to make New York safer, more affordable and more livable,” Hochul said at a Manhattan news conference.

Governors annually release popular measures with few details in the days before their State of the State addresses, which focus on broader and bigger initiatives.

On Tuesday Hochul proposed raising the maximum disability payment to $1,250 a week, up from the $170 that was set 35 years ago. The benefit pays workers who can't work because of an off-the job injury or illness. New York is one of the few states that offer the benefit. 

The benefit comes from a state fund of mandated contributions by workers and their employers.

Hochul also wants to prohibit health insurance companies from charging copays for insulin, which is used to treat diabetes for as many as 1.6 million New Yorkers. The proposal comes after the Democratic governor and the Democratic-led legislature last year restricted the growth in the cost of insulin and some other prescription drugs.

The New York Health Plan Association said that the copay measure could shift costs into higher health insurance premiums and copays.

“While well intentioned, limiting or eliminating copays on insulin fail to address the major driver of skyrocketing prescription drug costs,” said Eric Linzer, president and CEO of the group representing health insurers. Linzer blames the high cost of prescriptions on drug companies.

“The focus should be on measures to promote greater accountability into lowering the price of prescription drugs,” Linzer said.

People who owe massive hospital bills also would be helped under Hochul’s proposals. Her measure would limit the size of monthly payments and the interest that finance providers can charge patients. The proposal also would help shield low-income patients from lawsuits by bill collectors and expand hospital financial assistance programs so more patients can benefit from reduced bills.

“People can't make the big payments, and all of a sudden, their debt spirals out of control,” Hochul said. “Now they're being harassed for lawsuits for amounts of money that they're never going to be able to repay, and they never could afford in the first place.”

She also called for closing what she called loopholes in law that allow unscrupulous companies to steer consumers into more expensive college loan repayment plans and debt collectors to pressure seniors into selling their homes to pay mounting debts. Hochul said her proposal would empower state Attorney General Letitia James to investigate more cases of “exploitive tactics” by business operators.

Hochul also proposes new legislation to restrict high interest rates and unfavorable contracts for consumers in the “buy now, pay later loan industry.” Those rules would be enforced by the state Department of Financial Services.

Her proposals, however, could increase costs for employers, hospitals and some loan companies. Details of the measures will be released with Tuesday’s State of the State address, Hochul’s staff said.

The state Business Council wouldn’t comment on Hochul’s proposals Tuesday. The Long Island Association business group said Hochul’s attention to affordability for New Yorkers is welcomed, but the cost to employers also must be reduced.

“Long Island’s sky-high cost of living is our region’s existential crisis,” said Matt Cohen of the LIA. “And while we commend the governor for focusing on affordability, we also urge her State of the State to include additional measures to enhance business growth and expand the commercial tax base to increase our economic competitiveness.”

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.