Legislative Priorities

State Legislative Goals for 2023

New York StateWide Senior Action Council (“StateWide”) urges the NYS Legislature and the Governor to address our priority concerns in the 2023 Session. We will be strong advocates on issues related to:

• adequacy of planning for disaster preparedness/public health emergencies
• the home care worker shortage
• ensuring quality of care in hospitals and nursing homes and upholding consumer rights
• universal access to broadband connectivity, especially important due to the expanded reliance on tele-health services
• adequate funding for services for older residents, including continued funding for StateWide’s Patient Rights Helpline and Medicare & EPIC counseling programs
• improving the eligibility, rights and access to services for all New Yorkers with a focus on specific solutions for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees
• improving health delivery systems and access to care
• addressing widespread health inequality that disproportionately impacts persons of lower income and persons of color needs immediate action
• supporting access to all medically approved health care, including reproductive care services, to ensure privacy between patient and practitioner and ensure that government policies do not discriminate

To accomplish these goals, we urge adoption of various bills and specifically urge the:

• adoption of the New York Health Act, which places patients before profits, expands benefits and achieves savings for most covered New Yorkers and the state (A , Assy. Paulin/S , Sen. Rivera)
• adoption of bills to address and End Medical Debt, including a universal application for hospital payment relief (S1366, S4907)

State Legislative Priority Issues for 2023 (Continued)

• 2023 State Legislative Priorities

• 2023 Federal Legislative Priorities