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New York Will Not Require Out-of-Network Coverage for ACA Plans

"New York State health officials said on [April 25] that they would not require out-of-network coverage on [ACA] health plans next year, a decision likely to disappoint customers who have complained that they can no longer use their favorite doctors and hospitals. Restricting consumers to a fixed network of doctors and hospitals, called in-network coverage, helps keep costs down, and for the first year, none of the 16 insurance companies in New York's exchange deviated from that model."

Deal Reached to Require Paid Sick Leave for Employees in New York City

"The legislation would eventually force companies with at least 15 employees to give full-time workers five compensated days off a year when they are ill, a requirement that advocates said would allow much of the city's labor force to stay home from work without fear of losing a day's wage -- or worse, a job. The advocates said the legislation would provide paid sick leave for one million New Yorkers who do not currently have such benefits.... New York City's mandate would not take effect until spring 2014, and for the first 18 months, it would apply only to businesses with 20 or more employees[.]"

New York Teamsters May Have Their Pensions Cut, So What Went Wrong?

"[T]he Teamsters fund was hurt badly by the steep market decline of 2008. Those overseeing the fund also tie its troubles to the decline of unionized employment in the trucking industry, which has translated into fewer contributions to the plan.... But an examination of the fund identified other pernicious forces: most notably, illiquid, opaque and high-cost investments. At least 40 percent of the fund is in so-called alternative investments, including expensive private equity deals, hedge funds and real estate. For a fund poised to suspend benefits, holdings like these are especially problematic."

New York City Council Swiftly Passes Bill to Extend Paid Sick Leave for All But Smallest Employers

"The new law will require businesses with five or more employees to provide up to five paid days off a year if the employees or their relatives become ill. The original law applied only to businesses with 15 or more employees. The new law will take effect in April, when the original law was set to take effect."

Mixed Reports on New York State Health Exchange

"New York has been one of the most successful states in signing up people for new insurance plans under the [ACA] and, as of Dec. 24, the deadline for enrollment for coverage beginning New Year's Day, 230,624 had enrolled. As of [January 12], that number was 294,000. (People who sign up by the 15th of a month can get coverage the next month.) About 30 percent of the people who enrolled in private plans in New York are under 35 years old ... Nationally, only 24 percent were under 35[.]"

New York Archdiocese Reluctantly Paying for Birth Control

"The Archdiocese of New York has previously acknowledged that some local Catholic institutions offer health insurance plans that include contraceptive drugs to comply with state law; now, it is also acknowledging that the archdiocese's own money is used to pay for a union health plan that covers contraception and even abortion for workers at its affiliated nursing homes and clinics. 'We provide the services under protest,' said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York."

As New York City's Elderly Population Swells, Concerns Rise Over Lack of Access to Retirement Plans

"By 2030, the city will have 1.3 million people 65 and over, up from a million today.... 59 percent of workers in the city do not have either a pension or a 401(k), up from 51 percent a decade ago. Many small businesses do not have the human resources capacity to manage a 401(k).... In [one] proposal for the city, workers would be required to contribute a percentage of their pay. There would be no required employer match."

Medicaid-Supported Senior Centers Luring Relatively Healthy Clients in New York City

"[T]he Cuomo administration's Medicaid redesign ... has rapidly transferred tens of thousands of elderly and disabled people from a fee-for-service system to managed care, in an attempt to reduce Medicaid spending and nursing home use. Under the new system, managed care plans get roughly $3,800 a month for each eligible person they enroll in New York City, regardless of what services are provided."

New York State Orders Health Republic Co-Op to End New Business

"[C]urrent individual coverage should continue through Dec. 31 for 108,000 people, most of whom signed up through New York's health exchange.... [E]xisting small group plans also remained in effect, covering an additional 101,500 people. Most of those policies were bought outside the exchange established under the [ACA]. The agencies said they would evaluate how to proceed with those policies based on Health Republic's continuing financial results."

New York Pension Fund Exercises Muscle as Qualcomm Shareholder

"[New York State's comptroller, Thomas] DiNapoli sued Qualcomm, a computer chip business, demanding to see the company's internal records on political spending. The suit ... argues that the records are necessary to help Mr. DiNapoli determine whether the state's pension funds are protected. 'Without disclosure, there is no way to know whether corporate funds are being used in ways that go against shareholder interests,' he said. The pension fund owns almost $380 million in Qualcomm stock, and Mr. DiNapoli contends that this should give him a voice in the company's business."