By Howard Koplowitz
City Councilman Joseph Addabbo (D−Howard Beach) unveiled his health care platform inside an Ozone Park pharmacy Friday in his bid to unseat state Sen. Serphin Maltese (R−Glendale).
Addabbo’s proposals included supporting two existing state bills — one that would increase eligibility requirements for EPIC, the state drug program for seniors, and another to make insurance companies approve medically necessary prescriptions when a generic is not available.
He also supported a plan to allow residents to convert the anticipated value of their life insurance policies into cash to pay for long−term health care, which he said would reduce the state’s Medicaid costs.
“We need to put health care back into the hands of the doctors and nurses who think first about the patient and second about the bottom line. But we also need to take steps to improve existing programs and expand our options,” he said in a statement. “In these tough economic times, working families need real solutions to their basic concerns. We must do more and I have a plan.”
Addabbo, who earlier received the backing of the New York State Nurses Association, picked up the endorsement of the Doctors Council SEIU, which represents attending physicians and dentists, during the news conference inside Rossi pharmacy at 84−01 101st Ave.
Dr. Frank Proscia, a psychiatrist and executive director of Doctors Council SEIU, said the union was endorsing Addabbo because “he’s shown a proven track record.”
“In terms of his proposals, he sees that there’s a problem relating to health care,” Proscia said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It’s a system that’s falling apart and he’s trying to fix it any way he can.”
The councilman threw his support behind a bill to raise the EPIC income requirements to $50,000 from $35,000 for an individual. He said seniors enrolled in EPIC save an average of 90 percent on their medications.
Addabbo also called on health insurance companies to reform their three−tiered drug pricing system in which generic medications are the least expensive, followed by preferred brand names and non−preferred brand names.
He claimed the system disproportionately affects minorities — who have higher asthma, heart disease, diabetes and cancer rates than whites — because many insurance companies place restrictions on medications needed to treat those illnesses.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e−mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 173.
