§ 1 — Legislative findings

EXPANDED HEALTH CARE COVERAGE ACT\n OF NINETEEN HUNDRED EIGHTY-EIGHT\nSection 1. Legislative findings.\n 2. Short title.\n 3. Definitions.\n 4. Regional pilot projects for the uninsured.\n Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature finds that there are\nmore than two and one-half million residents of the state who have no\nhealth care coverage. The legislature recognizes that since nineteen\nhundred eighty the number of state residents without health care\ncoverage has increased at a rate of one hundred thousand per year, an\nincrease of more than thirty percent in six years.\n The legislature further finds that people without health care coverage\nhave limited access to primary health care services and tend to defer\nobtaining medical care, which leads to increased severity of illness and\nincreased costs when services are utilized. The legislature recognizes\nthat the lack of health care coverage has serious implications for the\noverall health status of residents of the state.\n The legislature recognizes the need to develop methods of providing\nhealth care coverage to uninsured individuals and families in order to\nimprove the health of residents of New York. Therefore, the legislature\nhereby declares that it is the policy of this state to promote the\nestablishment of pilot programs to test effective mechanisms to provide\nhealth care coverage to the uninsured. The legislature further declares\nthat these pilot programs will provide valuable information for\ndetermining future methods of providing comprehensive health care\ncoverage to all New York residents who lack such coverage.\n