New York State will require its NY Connects long-term care information program to direct people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia to available services under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The measure, A4195-A/S118-A, amends state Elder Law and is intended to make existing home-, community- and institution-based health care and support services easier for individuals, caregivers and families to find. It also requires an ongoing education and outreach campaign about the resources.
Hochul signed the bill during a Senior Citizens Day event in Harlem with its sponsors, Sen. Cordell Cleare and Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman. Hyndman said the change would make NY Connects a central place for dementia information that many families previously struggled to locate.
The governor also used the event to highlight health care savings programs for older New Yorkers. The state's expanded Medicare Savings Program pays Medicare Part B premiums for eligible people with limited incomes and now serves more than 1 million New Yorkers, a 20% enrollment increase, according to the governor's office.
The administration said the program saves each eligible participant $203 per month and prevents participants statewide from paying a combined $2.4 billion in Part B premiums each year.
New York's ban on insulin copayments has saved residents an estimated $25 million over two years, the governor's office said. A separate 2024 law requires commercial insurers to cover epinephrine auto-injectors and caps a consumer's out-of-pocket cost at $100 per year; the administration estimates that cap saved New Yorkers about $2.4 million in 2026.
The release also criticized the federal government's plan to end the Medicare Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration Program at the end of 2026, one year earlier than planned. The state cited analysts who estimated the subsidies offset an average of $16 per month in standalone prescription drug plan premiums this year.
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