SENATOR KEMP
HANNON (R, C, I- Nassau) chairs the
New York State Senate Health Committee,
and is the Senate Chair of the Health
Budget Subcommittee. Nationally, Senator
Hannon has served in many capacities
with the National Conference of State
Legislators ("NCSL") including the Task
Force on Streamlining and Simplifying
Insurance Regulation. In 2003, the Task
Force released the "Interstate Insurance
Product Regulation Compact" establishing
uniform standards between states for
insurance products. Senator Hannon has
served, as Chair of the NCSL Health
Committee comprised of legislative
representatives from each state working
toward cohesive state and federal health
policy. In addition, Senator Hannon is a
member of the NCSL Health Forum where he
represents New York in the national
debate on health care and health care
finance.
Senator Hannon has also served as chair
of the Council for State Government
standing committee on Suggested State
Legislation. In his capacity on the
committee he has worked to identify,
research and select exemplary state
legislation on topics of major interest
to states for use as model legislation.
Hannon was also a member of a national
advisory panel on "Racial and Ethnic
Health Disparities: The States as
Catalyst for Change", a joint effort of
the Heller School at Brandeis University
and the Program to Eliminate Health
Disparities at the Harvard School of
Public Health, funded by the
Commonwealth Fund. In addition, Senator
Hannon participates in the Reforming
States effort sponsored by the Millbank
Fund.
2003-2004 Legislative Highlights
As for statewide efforts, Senator
Hannon is active in promoting and
protecting the public health of New York
since he became the Health Committee
Chair in 1995. The following highlight
some of the legislative accomplishments
during the 2003-2004 legislative session
in which Senator Hannon:
* Served as co-chair of the Senate
Medicaid Reform Task Force and
proposed the first comprehensive
overhaul of Medicaid after six months of
public hearings, discussions and input
from local officials, health care
providers, consumers and advocates. With
the goal of implementing real systematic
change to assure Medicaid is serving the
right people, at the correct level of
care, in the most effective manner,
Senator Hannon led the Task Force in
establishing numerous recommendations to
the Senate. Two of the most pressing
issues addressed were the double digit
increases in the cost of prescription
drugs and the inability of the
government to continue to finance long
term care for the growing elderly
population.
* Supported and assisted the passage of
the Assisted Living Reform Act to
establish a uniform definition of
assisted living, require all assisted
living facilities to be licensed, and
standardizes the consumer protections
guaranteed to each resident in an
assisted living facility.
* Sponsored and passed a bill to
encourage the development of affordable
Continuing Care Retirement
Communities in New York designed to
provide seniors with all phases of
long-term care. The law changes many of
the statutory and regulatory
requirements which heretofore limited
the development of such programs and
making this option more available to
aging New Yorkers.
* Introduced and enacted the
Pertussis (whooping cough) Vaccination
bill. In an effort to increase the
immunization levels of the people of the
state of New York the vaccination for
pertussis and tetanus were added to the
list of immunizations required for
school entry. With the incidence of
pertussis in New York increasing four
fold in 2003 above the annual average,
Senator Hannon knew it was vital to
quickly act on this issue to protect
children from unnecessary illness.
OTHER LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Insurance Initiatives
Senator Hannon has fought to ensure
all New Yorkers have access to
high-quality, cost-effective care. He
played an instrumental role in the
adoption of the Health Care Reform
Act ("HCRA") in 1996, and its
subsequent iterations in 2000 and 2002.
HCRA replaced New York's existing
archaic, overregulated hospital
reimbursement system with a deregulated
system based on rates negotiated by
providers and payers, and established
pools of money to fund many of the
critical health care initiatives in the
state. Senator Hannon will work in 2005
to reevaluate and appropriate these
funds to continue these vital programs.
Most importantly, HCRA funds helped to
establish and maintain the Child
Health Plus program in 1996 and
1997, and later the Family Health
Plus program, both developed in part
under the leadership of Senator Hannon.
These nationally recognized programs
provide health coverage for many
children and adults otherwise unable to
afford medical care.
Enrollment in Child Health Plus has
increased from approximately 90,000 in
the mid 1990s to almost 500,000 at
present. Meanwhile, the current
enrollment in Family Health Plus is over
400,000.
With Medicaid serving as the primary
payer of long term care costs; Senator
Hannon has also sponsored legislation to
increase the use of long term care
insurance. As Chair of the Health Budget
Subcommittee in 2004, and in response to
recommendations of the Medicaid Reform
Task Force, Senator Hannon pushed for
incentives to increase the purchase
of long term care insurance policies
by expanding the plan options available
through the NYS Partnership for Long
Term Care, by offering a higher tax
credit to those who purchase a plan
and through more aggressive public
education and outreach. Each of
these initiatives was adopted in the
2004-2005 budget.
Also in 2004, Senator Hannon sponsored
the bill which created the New York
State Health Insurance Continuation
Assistance Demonstration Program
designed to provide health insurance for
persons in the entertainment industry
and other displaced workers providing
them stop gap protection in order to
maintain their health insurance coverage
when they are required to move from job
to job.
Other insurance initiatives sponsored by
Senator Hannon to promote access to
quality care are: the Long Term Care
Integration and Finance Act,
providing greater public and private
long-term care options for the elderly
and chronically ill; the Managed Care
Bill of Rights establishing the
basis for the federal initiative to
protect the interests of patients as
well as provider physicians; and the
External Review initiative giving
managed care patients the right to an
independent, external appeal of HMO
denials of coverage for treatment.
Medical Practice
In 2004, Senator Hannon was awarded
an honorary membership into the New York
State Neurosurgical Society for his
commitment to tort reform in New York.
His bill, the Medical Malpractice
Reform Act, defines non-economic and
actual economic damages, institutes a
cap on non-economic damages of $250,000
and removes the current exemption of
identifying medial experts. These
reforms will help New York move closer
to a more equitable tort system.
In 2000, the Senator created landmark
legislation, the Patient Health
Information and Quality Improvement Act
of 2000 (also known as "Physician
Profiling"), to extend patient access to
information about health care providers,
and to improve the quality of patient
care. The law requires the profiling of
doctors, hospitals and health care
plans, creates a Patient Safety Center
to establish statewide safety goals and
recommends best practices, and closes
existing loopholes in the reporting of
practitioner misconduct.
Medical Research
Senator Hannon is responsible for
numerous laws recognizing the importance
of medical research, preventive medicine
and the treatment of diseases. These
laws include measures to reform cancer
registry reporting and laws which
require the NYS Department of Health to
set up a database to collect information
about emergency room visits statewide,
allowing the state, in the future, to
better judge and plan for a range of
illnesses, symptoms and accidents.
Senator Hannon also helped to create the
Senate's landmark "Gen*NY*sis" program
to promote biotechnology research in New
York, to ensure the state will become a
leader in the research and development
of new life science technologies.
Organ Donation
Furthering his commitment to increasing
organ donation, in 2004 Senator Hannon
sponsored the bill which established the
NYS Organ and Tissue Donor Registry in
law. The registry will allow New York to
continue to partner with the United
Network of Organ Sharing, which
maintains the national organ donor
waiting list ensuring available organs
are matched with those in need. In 2003,
Senator Hannon authored a measure, which
established the "Life Pass It On"
program, which designed distinctive
license plates and established a fund to
support organ donor education. In 2001,
the Senator championed the bill, which
generated the Donate Life Medal of Honor
to honor donors and their families.
Pharmaceuticals
Responding to the 2003 changes in
prescription drug coverage for Medicare
patients at the federal level, Senator
Hannon worked to implement the federal
program in New York in a way that
further supports the state’s successful
Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance
Coverage ("EPIC") program. Enrollment
was automatic for EPIC enrollees, which
simplified the process for seniors and
ensured beneficiaries access to all the
advantages of the new federal program.
In 2000, Senator Hannon played a vital
role in expanding the EPIC program by
increasing the income limits. These
changes make EPIC the nation's most
comprehensive drug coverage program for
seniors with over 343,000
enrollees to date.
Technology
Senator Hannon has championed innovative
legislation to promote electronic
commerce and protect the privacy of
individuals doing business on-line.
Senator Hannon's Electronic Signature
and Records Act of 1999 provides legal
authorization for the use of electronic
signatures and records. This legislation
positioned New York at the forefront of
electronic commerce and paved the way
for an analogous federal law in 2000.
Senator Hannon also sponsored the
Internet Security and Privacy Act, which
prohibits any state agency that provides
an interactive computer web site from
collecting or disclosing personal
information concerning a person using
the site unless the user consents to
make this information available. Such
strong privacy protections will allow
users to be confident their personal
information is secure when they
communicate with their government
on-line. It will also serve as an
example for private sector entities to
follow in protecting the privacy of
individuals who conduct business with
them on-line.
Women’s Health
Throughout his leadership in the Health
Committee, Senator Hannon has always
focused on the importance of prevention.
In 2002, Senator Hannon co-sponsored the
Women’s Health Care and Preventative
Care bill which would provide women with
direct access to OB/GYNs, improved
coverage for cancer and osteoporosis
screening and coverage of contraceptives
as part of an enrollee's drug coverage.
In 2000, he sponsored legislation
requiring health insurance companies to
cover mammograms for women at high risk
either because of a family history or
due to their age. The bill also required
insurance companies to cover
re-constructive surgery following
mastectomies. This legislation increases
both a person's chance of prevention and
survival of breast cancer.
And in 1995, Senator Hannon supported
the bill, which created the law
establishing requirements for maternity
care. Specifically, women are to remain
in the hospital for at least 48 hours
after giving birth, consequently
mandating insurance companies to honor
claims covering that minimum amount of
time.
Further Activities
In addition to his leadership capacity
as Health Committee Chair, Senator
Hannon has also served as a member of
the Senate Task Force on Children’s
Health and Safety with the mission of
making New York State a healthier and
safer place for children to live free
from abuse and neglect. In 2003, Senator
Hannon convened a roundtable bringing
industry experts and advocates together
to debate the reimbursement, workforce,
specialized programs and levels of
services available on the continuum of
long-term care. And in 2001, Senator
Hannon served as a member of the Blue
Ribbon Task Force on the Future of
Nursing convened by the New York State
Board of Regents to address the
impending nursing shortage in the state.
As a senior member of the New York State
Senate, Senator Hannon currently serves
on numerous standing committees
including Alcoholism and Drug Abuse;
Codes; Corporations, Authorities, and
Commissions; Elections; Energy and
Telecommunications; Finance; and
Judiciary.
Senator Hannon was elected to the state
Senate in November 1989, where he
initially served as Chairman of the
Committee for Housing and Community
Development; previously he was the
Republican floor leader in the Assembly,
serving as the Minority Leader Pro Tem.
An alumnus of Chaminade High School,
Boston College and Fordham Law School,
Senator Hannon is Special Counsel to the
law firm Farrell Fritz P.C. in Nassau
County and is active in community and
civic affairs. He resides in Garden City
with his wife Bronwyn and their twin
daughters, Alex and Maddie.
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