Most New York-regulated plans will cover rescue and maintenance inhalers for $0

If you have asthma and a state-regulated comprehensive health plan with prescription drug coverage, your plan must cover one form of rescue inhaler and one form of maintenance inhaler. Those covered forms have no copay, coinsurance, or deductible, except where the high-deductible-plan rule below applies. Some inhalers cost as much as $640 a month, according to the governor’s office.

You don’t need to apply. The requirement applies when a policy is issued, renewed, modified, altered, or amended on or after January 1, 2027. You need a prescription from a doctor or another licensed provider. If your plan is a high-deductible plan paired with a health savings account, it may still apply its deductible to some inhalers when waiving the deductible would make the plan ineligible for an HSA. Plans New York does not regulate, such as many large employers’ self-insured plans, aren’t covered.

Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas and State Sen. Gustavo Rivera carried the bill. An earlier version was introduced in 2024 and didn’t pass. In June 2025 the Assembly passed it 145–0 and the Senate passed it 56–2. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed it on November 21, 2025. It follows the state’s 2024 law ending cost-sharing for insulin.