ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — In response to losing $7.5 billion per year in federal funding, the state will end its expanded Essential Plan, a health insurance program that covers almost 1.7 million low- and middle-income New Yorkers. Democratic leaders in Governor Kathy Hochul's administration announced on Wednesday that it will terminate the State Innovation Waiver, returning to a Basic Health Program.

Pending approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the change is supposed to take effect by July 2026. The state Department of Health said they're committed to an "orderly transition."

The change comes as a result of the federal budget bill H.R.1—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act— that eliminated the funding for New York’s Essential Plan. The law changed the requireme

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