New York S 8157: Enacts the "NYS health care tax reform act"

Bill Text

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S08157 Summary:

BILL NOS08157A

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SAME ASSAME AS A08642-A

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SPONSORRAMOS

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COSPNSRCOMRIE, HARCKHAM, LIU, SALAZAR, SCARCELLA-SPANTON

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MLTSPNSR

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Amd §§2807-j & 2807-s, Pub Health L; add §§1510-a, 220, 221 & 866-a, amd §658, Tax L; amd §92-dd, St Fin L

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Enacts the "NYS health care tax reform act"; establishes a public goods and medicaid subsidy surcharge on insurance corporations; establishes a public goods and medicaid subsidy surcharge on business corporations; establishes a public goods and medicaid subsidy surcharge on pass-through entities; relates to filing fee surcharges; relates to revenues to be included in the health care reform act resources fund; establishes a public goods and medicaid surcharge on misclassified workers.

Go to top S08157 Actions:

BILL NOS08157A

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05/15/2025REFERRED TO HEALTH

01/07/2026REFERRED TO HEALTH

03/09/2026AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO HEALTH

03/09/2026PRINT NUMBER 8157A

Go to topS08157 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS08157 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS08157 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 8157--A

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 May 15, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sens. RAMOS, LIU -- read twice and ordered printed, and
 when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health -- recommitted
 to the Committee on Health in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --
 committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
 recommitted to said committee

 AN ACT to amend the public health law, the tax law and the state finance
 law, in relation to enacting the "NYS health care tax reform act"

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 2 the "NYS health care tax reform act".
 3 § 2. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds that:
 4 The affordability of health care and health insurance is extremely
 5 important in ensuring that the maximum number of New York state resi-
 6 dents can obtain high quality affordable health care.
 7 Health care and health insurance are currently subject to several
 8 taxes that directly and indirectly increase the cost of health insurance
 9 coverage, including an annual flat tax on all privately insured people
 10 in New York state called the covered lives assessment and a 9.63% sales
 11 tax surcharge on certain hospital based health services (HCRA taxes).
 12 Collectively, the taxes on health care, health insurance, and other
 13 taxes were budgeted at $6.5 billion in the FY 2025 state budget. These
 14 taxes are now the fourth largest revenue source for the state behind
 15 only the personal income, sales, and broad-based business taxes. These
 16 taxes have been increased fourteen times since the program began in
 17 1997. The program is now far larger and is used for purposes never
 18 originally contemplated when first enacted.
 19 The taxes on health care and health insurance are fundamentally
 20 regressive taxes because the taxes are unrelated to a consumer's wealth
 21 or ability to pay, directly impact hospitalization costs at a time when
 22 consumers are facing some of their greatest health care challenges,

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD13012-03-6

 S. 8157--A 2

 1 directly increase the cost of health insurance, and are counterproduc-
 2 tive to the public policy objective of making health insurance as
 3 affordable as possible. Even worse, these taxes are levied in a horribly
 4 unfair manner. They are levied on employees and their employers who are
 5 doing the right thing by providing employer-based health benefits.
 6 Employers who provide no health benefits to hourly workers, including
 7 some of the largest employers in the state, pay nothing.
 8 It is therefore the intent of the legislature that these HCRA taxes be
 9 repealed and replaced so as to maintain the revenue needed to continue
 10 all of the public goods services currently provided under HCRA (includ-
 11 ing but not limited to indigent care grants, subsidies to medical malp-
 12 r