Officials tout New York’s abortion access, but financial hurdles persist

Good morning and welcome to the Weekly New York Health Care newsletter, where we keep you posted on what’s coming up this week in health care news, and offer a look back at the important news from last week.

City and state officials marked the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade by touting their efforts to strengthen abortion access in New York.

A city-funded the abortion access hotline has served nearly 2,000 people since it was launched in November 2022 to connect callers to abortion providers and support, according to new city data released Friday.

Most callers lived in New York City, but over 400 reported living outside the state, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. A quarter of those out-of-state callers were from Texas.

In a releasecity officials also noted that NYC Health + Hospitals has expanded its capacity to provide abortion care, and that city-run sexual health clinics have started offering free medication abortions.

“In the one year since this battle on reproductive rights was lost, the war continues on, and New York City has stepped up and solidified its place as a safe haven for reproductive freedom,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

neither Health + Hospitals nor the Health Department would provide POLITICO with data on the number of abortions performed since the Supreme Court decision.

Gov. Kathy Hochul recognized one year since the Dobbs decision by signing legislation to protect New York doctors who prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in other states, adding to a bundle of other shield laws enacted last year.

“It’s bold, but New Yorkers have always been bold, always champions of the movements before their time, and showing other states the path forward,” Hochul said during a bill-signing ceremony Friday.

But the state it still has a way to go until it is the beacon of abortion access that officials like Hochul proclaimed it to be, said Chelsea Williams-Diggs, interim executive director of the New York Abortion Access Fund.

The fundswhich helps both locals and people from outside the state pay for the cost of an abortion in New York, has seen an increase in demand since Dobbs — so much so that the nonprofit could completely run out of money by October, Williams-Diggs said in an interview.

however, Hochul turned down a proposal last year to contribute state funding to organizations like the NYAAF, instead forming a $35 million fund to help providers expand capacity and implement new security measures.

in that senseNew York isn’t as much of a trailblazer as California, for example, which committed tens of millions of dollars to assist in-state and out-of-state abortion patients with travel and lodging costs.

The average cost of a first-trimester abortion in New York is $600, according to Williams-Diggs — making the procedure inaccessible to many, in spite of the laws and protections trumpeted by local lawmakers.

New York’s Medicaid program covers the procedure, but some providers don’t take Medicaid, and others don’t accept it if a patient is later in pregnancy and requires more costly care, Williams-Diggs said.

The most recent the state budget raised Medicaid rates for surgical abortions, but they did not go into effect until October.

IN OTHER NEWS:

— Hochul signed Sunday legislation to protect health care providers, patients and patients’ families from legal proceedings in another state related to their providing or receiving gender-affirming care in New York.

“These new laws will enshrine our state as a beacon of hope, a safe haven for trans youth and their families, and ensure we continue to lead the nation on LGBTQ+ rights,” Hochul said in a statement.

ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK:

— Mondays at 10:30 am The state Public Health and Health Planning Council’s public health and health planning committees convene a joint meeting.

— Monday at 2 p.m The Public Health and Health Planning Council’s health planning committee meets.

— Thursday at 10 am The Public Health and Health Planning Council convenes a full council meeting.

— Thursday at 3 p.m The NYC Health + Hospitals board of directors hosts its monthly public meeting.

GOT TIPS? Send story ideas and feedback to Maya Kaufman at [email protected].

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— A long-running executive order declaring a statewide disaster emergency due to health care staffing shortages expired last week, just as Hochul signed two pieces of legislation that prolong pandemic-era flexibility for some categories of health care workers.

Nurses and emergency medical technicians are among the beneficiaries of those new laws, but other types of health care workers will have to obtain a New York license to continue working within the state.

— The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has proposed requiring laboratories to notify the department of any positive test results for two communicable diseases, alpha-gal syndrome and infections caused by carbapenem-resistant organisms.

Alpha-gal syndrome is an allergic reaction resulting from exposure to a sugar molecule found in certain meats and animal products, and evidence suggests that an increasing number of cases are triggered by the bite of a lone star tick. Carbapenem-resistant organisms, which usually cause infections in hospitals and other health care facilities, recently prompted an outbreak in patients who used artificial tears.

If approved by the Board of Health, both would be added to the list of diseases and conditions of public health interest that are reportable to the Health Department.

NOW WE KNOW — Abortions seem to have increased only marginally in New York in the months after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion.

TODAY’S TIP — Coaches and medical experts share advice on how new runners can avoid several common mistakes.

STUDY THIS — Xylazine appears to worsen the life-threatening effects of opioids, a new study of rats suggests.

— A contentious New York City policy to send more mentally ill homeless people to hospitals has helped some move into permanent homes, The New York Times reports.

— in New York, Medicaid patients face a scarcity of dental providers, the Albany Times Union reports.

— Organ transplant patients can die when donors aren’t screened for this parasitic disease, ProPublica reports.

— Via STAT: “New research underscores the benefits of gender-affirming hormones, contesting anti-trans claims.”

— The doctor’s shortage is already here, but there’s a way to fix it, Vox reports.

— Via POLITICO’s Myah Ward: How one abortion clinic is surviving in a post-Roe world.

— Amazon delays virtual care service’s unveiling after senators raised privacy concerns, reports Ben Leonard.

MISSED A ROUNDUP? Get caught up on the New York Health Care Newsletter.