N.Y.C. Admin. Code § L.L. 2002/001: L.L. 2002/001

Enactment date: 4/2/2002

Int. No. 13-A

By Council Members Moskowitz, the Speaker (Council Member Miller), Quinn, Katz, Liu, Reed, Rivera, Brewer, Clarke, Sears, Stewart, Vann, Reyna, Weprin, Gioia and Oddo; also Council Member Comrie

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the New York city charter, in relation to the publication and distribution of materials detailing public health insurance options.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Declaration of legislative findings and intent. Despite the availability of public health insurance programs such as Medicaid, Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus, recent estimates suggest that close to one million low-income New Yorkers eligible to be insured under such programs remain uninsured. The Council finds that, in addition to compromising the health and well-being of uninsured individuals, lack of health insurance coverage frequently results in the unwarranted use of emergency room services, particularly in the City's public hospital system. This use of emergency rooms as a locus of essentially "primary care" services produces inflated costs for those services that are rendered – costs that are ultimately borne by taxpayers and the unnecessary use of charity pools. Therefore, in an effort to ensure the health and well-being of New Yorkers, as well as an attempt to advance a more efficient and appropriate use of resources, it is the intention of the Council to ensure that all New Yorkers eligible to receive public health insurance coverage do in fact receive such coverage. To this end, the Council is requiring that the Department of Public Health publish and that certain City agencies distribute a pamphlet describing public health insurance options. The publication and distribution of this pamphlet will help inform uninsured New Yorkers that they may be eligible for public health insurance and will facilitate their access to such coverage.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or other portion of this local law is, for any reason, declared unconstitutional or invalid, in whole or in part, by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed severable, and such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this local law, which remaining portions shall continue in full force and effect.

§ 5. Effective date. This local law shall take effect one hundred and eighty days after its enactment; provided, however, that section three of this local law shall have no further force or effect and shall be deemed repealed on October 1, 2005. Actions necessary to prepare for the implementation of this local law may be taken prior to its effective date.