Now, however, advocates fear the state could be taking a step back for those with Medicaid.

Biomarker testing changes

In 2023, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law requiring insurance providers, including Medicaid, to cover biomarker testing.

But health care advocates said her current budget proposal threatens to reverse that progress by requiring Medicaid enrollees to meet "medical necessity criteria" for coverage.

The 2027 executive budget briefing book states, "In 2023, the Governor signed legislation to cover biomarker precision testing as a Medicaid benefit. Biomarker precision testing allows doctors to identify measurable indicators that signal normal or abnormal biological processes and treatment responses. The Budget clarifies that all biomarker precision tests covered by Medicaid meet required medical necessity criteria."

A spokesperson for the governor released the following statement:

"The Governor has significantly expanded access to cancer care by advancing initiatives that make care more affordable, particularly early detection and screenings. This proposal does not roll back coverage but instead aims to further ensure patient safety in accordance with evidence-based and peer-reviewed guidelines. Nothing in this proposal changes the fact that biomarker precision medical testing is a covered benefit for Medicaid enrollees and the Governor will continue to negotiate in good faith with the Legislature to pass a state budget that protects healthcare access for New Yorkers."

Assembly Member Pamela Hunter, who championed the 2023 bill, said in a statement:

"I am proud to have worked with Senator Persaud and Governor Hochul to increase access to groundbreaking biomarker tests that have had so much positive impact on the lives of patients. The law, enacted in 2024, covered biomarker tests for both commercial plans and Medicaid, making it available no matter what a person's income was as long as the test was deemed medically necessary under agreed upon criteria. This is precision diagnostic testing that makes treatments more targeted and often more successful. In the current state budget negotiations, there are proposals to remove criteria for Medicaid patients. As these negotiations continue, I am working to preserve what is in enacted law and maintain access to these lifesaving tests."    

The importance of biomarker testing access

Cancer survivors and advocates gathered outside the governor's Manhattan office Tuesday. Among them was Lexy Mealing, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 52.

"It was life-shattering," she said.

Nearly five years later, she's in remission and believes biomarker testing was integral to her survival.

"[The biomarker testing] helped my physicians have a clear, open path to the treatment plan that was best for me," she said.

Mealing said she and others want "to urge state lawmakers to reject [Hochul's] proposal to roll back Medicaid coverage of biomarker testing."

Advocates say this doesn't just impact cancer patients but those with a wide range of diseases.

"There are diseases out there where there is no cure right now, like ALS. But one day, there will be a cure, and it will come because of biomarker testing," said Michael Davoli, with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

"I've watched for too long as people of color, low-income individuals, and neighbors of mine disproportionately shoulder the burden of disease like cancer," Bronx resident and lung cancer survivor Jacqueline Nesbit said. "It's largely because we've been shut out of advances like biomarker testing."

"We should not be balancing the state budget on the backs of cancer patients," Davoli said.

Justin Simpson, a high school senior, said in the past when he had sinus infections, it wasn't anything major, but this time, symptoms lingered, and some were unusual.

"Justin is soft spoken, a very respectful child. And then he started to get more irritated, more aggressive .... and his left eye started to get swollen," mother Jacqueline Simpson said.

Despite a trip to the emergency room and medication, he only got worse. Two days later, he was rushed to Mount Sinai.

His mother said he had a seizure in the ambulance. The EMT gave him medication as she prayed for her son.

"Justin would not wake up. There was no pulse. And then I heard him say, 'Justin, you have to wake up,'" Jacqueline Simpson said. "In that moment, it must have been God. And as he said that, Justin took a deep breath and he was back with us."

As pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Peter Morgenstern explains, the bone separating the sinuses from the brain is extremely thin.

"It is possible, through tiny blood vessels or even tiny holes in that bone, for infections to spread into the brain," he said. "It's incredibly rare, but it can be incredibly dangerous."

It sent Justin Simpson straight into surgery, but the infection was so persistent, he needed a second one.

"We removed a large portion of his skull ... to relieve that compression, and we allowed his brain swelling to come down," Morgenstern said.

The doctor said the time when a sinus infection becomes an emergency is when symptoms are changing rapidly, such as severe headaches, confusion, lethargy, decreased appetite and seizures.  

"I missed school ... I had graduation and prom," Justin Simpson said.  

He proved to be more persistent than the infection, pushing through with his family by his side.

Now, a more than a year later, they're raising awareness.

"Pay attention to your children," Jacqueline Simpson said. "If you see something is different, take action."

That quick action, along with with his doctors, got Justin Simpson to graduation, and now college. He hopes to become a pilot after proving to himself the sky's the limit.

"It definitely changed my perspective on life," he said.

The CDC says it takes just five days for opioid dependency to set in. 

Older adults in New Jersey recorded the highest number of suspected overdose deaths in 2025, with 278, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. That's more than any other age group, including teens and young adults. 

In New York City, more than 700 adults 55-84 died of unintentional drug poisonings involving opioids in 2024. 

Chronic pain problems more likely in seniors

"Some of the most commonly prescribed opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone, they are literally made from opium, and they have effects on the brain that are indistinguishable from heroin," Dr. Andrew Kolodny said. 

Kolodny is the president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and medical director for opioid policy research at Brandeis University. 

"We have a health care system that incentivizes for getting patients out of your office quickly, and the quickest way to get a patient out of your office sometimes is to write a prescription," Kolodny said. 

Geriatricians say the amount of older adults who've died from falls have tripled in the last three decades, and two thirds of the fatal falls were linked to prescription pills that caused drowsiness and impaired balance. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found more than 41,000 seniors older than 65 died from falls in 2023. 

Addiction awareness advocates recommend talking to your doctor about medications you're using and trying opioid alternatives for pain management if you're able, including exercise, acupuncture, physical therapy, ice, over the counter medicine, and chiropractic care. 

"Whether you're 16 or 65, you still have the same kind of risk if you are prescribed an opioid," said Angelo Valente, executive director of the Partnerships for a Drug-Free New Jersey. The group educates New Jersey residents about opioid risks, and has a statewide healthy aging and opioid alternative campaign. 

"I didn't know what to do with the pain" 

Mary Ellen Lillis, 68, is recovering from knee surgery.   

"It was very, very painful. There were nights where I was crying 'cause I was in so much pain. You get almost, like, delirious, you just want it to stop," she said. 

Lillis said the post-operation pain was relentless. 

"I didn't know what to do with the pain because it was so intense," Lillis said. "Oxycontin was one, that was the one I would take every 4 hours."

Lillis said she couldn't tolerate the side effects from the prescribed opioids, including nausea and insomnia. She stopped taking them after a week. 

"I just felt like I was not myself, taking those meds. After the first week, I was like, I'm just gonna have to deal with the pain, I know it's going to hurt," Lillis said. Instead, she turned to Tylenol, and her ice machine. "It's an easy slope to slide down if the pills are comforting you and you're getting relief from it." 

Lillis is on a mission to forge a stronger joint by using the gym, physical therapy, walking and baking to build a better knee. 

"I'm doing good. I mean, I'm still in pain," she said. 

Kolodny calls Lillis' approach lifestyle medicine.

"When a doctor is reaching for their prescription pad or recommending a medication, they might want to ask that clinician is there a non-medicine alternative," Kololdny said. 

Jersey City filed an emergency injunction to keep the ER open, claiming Hudson Regional Health "failed to follow basic rules required by state law to close a hospital," but a judge ruled against the injunction.

At a press conference Saturday evening, Jersey City Mayor James Solomon said residents have a right to be mad and frustrated by the closure.

"Because what we have seen is corporations that think they're above the law," he said, adding, "The people of Jersey City Heights deserve health care."

A spokesperson for New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill called the closure "abrupt" and "illegal," adding, "The hospital owes tens of thousands of dollars to the state in penalties for closing in this manner."

Why the ER closed

Heights University Hospital closed last November and laid off 150 employees. At the time, it promised to keep the emergency room open.

The full closure was initially announced a little more than two weeks ago, and then Hudson Regional Health, the hospital's new owners, said it would spend $1 million to keep the ER open for an additional two weeks. A hospital spokesperson said the only way the ER could stay open beyond that would be if it received help from the state. 

A spokesperson for HRH, which took over the CarePoint Health system in 2024 after it declared bankruptcy, said the hospital was losing tens of millions of dollars annually due to "a majority underinsured payer mix, cuts to state and county aid, an aging and neglected facility."

"While this outcome is extremely disappointing, the decision was made to preserve the stability of the hospitals in the system and ensure the continued delivery of care within the HRH Hudson County network," the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson also said it has proposed plans to the city to build residential units to help fund the construction of a state-of-the art hospital to bring in more patients.

HRH said it also plans on opening an urgent care facility in an adjacent building in the near future and a mobile health unit in the coming months. Patients with life-threatening traumas are being diverted to other area hospitals, including Jersey City and Hoboken medical centers.  

Outcry from community

The shutdown will leave thousands with fewer emergency care options. 

Saturday afternoon, demonstrators used the already-empty parking lot to stage a "die-in," showing what they feel would happen if the emergency room closes. Some demonstrators have stayed overnight outside of the hospital since Thursday.

"This is the fear that people in this community have – that they will die, that people will die or be seriously injured without their local hospital," said Liam Paiva-Acosta, co-chair of the Health Justice Working Group, North NJ DSA.

The hospital has been in the community for 150 years.  

"They really served our community very well, and my family and me personally," said former hospital employee Tom McIntosh, from Jersey City.

"They're all trendy areas and growing more and more, and I think the real estate value of this by far is their priority, not the health care and the community," Union City resident Mary Dooley said.

"It's tough to see something like this go, but the community's going to suffer for it and they won't have that option anymore," McIntosh said.  

Demonstrators want to see the county and state implement a new plan to keep a hospital in the Heights neighborhood.

Of the two types of mpox, clade I is known to cause more severe disease and death. It's the 12th clade I mpox diagnosis in the U.S. 

The city's Health Department said the person who tested positive recently traveled to Europe and is isolating until symptoms subside.

"There is no known local transmission of mpox clade I in New York City and the risk remains low for New Yorkers," Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said. "The NYC Health Department recommends that New Yorkers who are at risk for mpox receive and complete the two-dose vaccine series that works to prevent mpox."  

If you've already had mpox, there's no need to get vaccinated. 

Health officials say people who have sex with men and identify as male, trans, nonbinary or gender non-conforming, people who are planning to visit a country where mpox is spreading and anticipate sex with a new partner while there, and people who have peen in close contact with someone they suspect has mpox should talk to their doctors about vaccination. 

There were 398 reported cases of clade II mpox in New York City last year, and 45 cases this year through March 10. 

For more information about mpox from city health officials, click here. 

Kim shared the punch-in-the-gut feeling he experienced when the doctor gave the diagnosis.

"In a blink of an eye, I had gone from being a son to being a caregiver," he says in a video posted to his YouTube channel. 

The politician said his father immigrated to the United States from South Korea 50 years ago and was born with polio. He was a medical researcher who spent his life trying to find a cure for cancer and Alzheimer's.

"You can't help but think that Alzheimer's won," Kim told CBS News New York's Christine Sloan. 

"It shouldn't have to be this hard" 

His 78-year-old father isn't able to walk or do much on his own anymore.

The senator is now juggling his schedule by taking his father to early morning appointments, then heading to the Capitol. 

Kim said he can be very stressed and anxious during this time, and it is expensive to care for his father. A private room at a long-term facility in New Jersey can cost up to $17,000, and Medicare doesn't always cover all medical expenses, he said.

"We are the richest, most powerful country in the world. It shouldn't have to be this hard for people to get care when their family needs it," Kim said. 

Nearly 200,000 people in New Jersey and 7 million nationally are affected by the disease. 

Rutgers Alzheimer's scientist Michal Schnaider Beeri said the disease can start decades before the first symptom. But new medications can slow down cognitive decline in early-stage patients by attacking abnormal protein buildup in the brain. 

Beeri said there are things people can do to lower their risk of getting Alzheimer's.

"If you can be physically active, socially active, cognitively active, if you can maintain a good lifestyle in terms of diet, in terms of sleep, no smoking, no obesity," he said. 

Kim stays focused on the present

Kim said he is trying to enjoy the time with his father, despite the disease. 

"I am grateful that my kids are able to still engage with him and be able to build up those memories themselves," he said. 

The senator said he hopes to continue his father's legacy and reduce harm being done to other families. The Democrat is asking Republicans to work with him to make Alzheimer's care affordable and continue funding research to find a cure.