A BUDGET BILL submitted by the Governor in accordance with Article VII of the Constitution
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the Health Care Reform Act of 2000 funding for disabled persons and physician services; to amend the tax law, in relation to the tax on cigarettes; and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2002, entitled “AN ACT to amend a chapter of the laws of 2002 amending the public health law, the social services law and the tax law relating to the Health Care Reform Act of 2000, as proposed in legislative bill numbers S. 6084 and A. 9610, in relation to the effectiveness of certain provisions thereof; and to amend the tax law, in relation to the tax on cigarettes”, in relation to making technical corrections
This bill contains provisions needed to implement the Health and HCRA portion of the 2002-03 Executive Budget.
This bill directs all receipts from the 39 cent increase in the cigarette tax to HCRA and authorizes additional HCRA funding for certain Medicaid and Public Health programs.
Section 1 authorizes HCRA allocations of $6.4 million in Calendar Year (CY) 2002 and $4.3 million from January 1, 2003 through June 30, 2003 to support the costs of working disabled individuals enrolled in the 1619 a and b program.
Section 2 authorizes HCRA allocations of up to $52 million in CY 2002 and up to $43 million from January 1, 2003 through June 30, 2003 for the Medicaid physicians services program.
Section 3 directs all cigarette tax receipts from the 39 cent increase (from $1.11 to $1.50 per pack) to be deposited in the HCRA Tobacco Control and Insurance Initiatives Pool.
Section 4 increases the HCRA allocations for the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program by $15.7 million in CY 2002 and $9 million from January 1, 2003 through June 30, 2003.
The recently enacted HCRA/Medicaid/Public Health bill erroneously directed all receipts from the 39 cent increase in the cigarette tax to the State’s General Fund. A current proposed Chapter Amendment rectifies this error by directing proceeds received in April and May, 2002 to the General Fund and all proceeds received after this period to HCRA, as agreed upon by the Executive and Legislature.
Chapter 1 of the Laws of 1999 (HCRA 2000) allocates funding amounts for various health care programs.
This bill, which directs all cigarette tax receipts to HCRA, is necessary to support existing and new health care initiatives. In addition, this bill provides HCRA funding for critical public health and Medicaid programs.
This bill is necessary to implement the SFY 2002-03 Executive Budget which dedicates all receipts of the cigarette tax increase to HCRA and recommends the financing of selected public health and Medicaid programs from HCRA.
This bill will take effect immediately.