ALBANY, New York, April 2 -- New York State Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie issued the following news release:

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Aging Committee Chair Donna Lupardo today announced that the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2018-19 budget agreement includes important investments for programs to support New York's seniors.

"As New Yorkers live longer than ever before, it is important that we continue making investments in programs that will allow them to prepare for the future and support them as they age," said Speaker Heastie. "The Assembly Majority understands that seniors are integral parts of our communities. I'm glad we could come together and craft a budget that ensures older New Yorkers will have the resources they need to continue living independently and with dignity."

"Given our state's large aging population, it's important that we make investments to help seniors age well," said Assemblymember Lupardo. "I am pleased we could come together to provide funding for programs and services older New Yorkers rely on. We'll continue raising awareness about the need to help seniors stay in their homes for as long as possible."

The spending plan invests $2 million in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) and Neighborhood NORC. It will also allow the Office for the Aging to expend last year's $2 million Mortgage Insurance Fund (MIF) allocation, which brings total additional funding for the programs to $4 million. NORCs and Neighborhood NORCs provide services to help participants, including healthcare management planning, case assistance, benefit application assistance, linking residents with in-home and prevention services, healthcare screenings and other services.

The budget funds a number of programs that provide important resources for seniors, including $31.2 million for the Community Services for the Elderly program which supports personal care, home delivered meals, transportation, senior centers and other important services; $100,000 for the Statewide Senior Action Council Patients' Rights Hotline; $86,000 for the Foundation for Senior Citizens Home Sharing and Respite Program; and $250,000 for the Older Adult Technology Center.

The budget provides $20 million in capital funding to support the establishment of 1,000 new assisted living program beds in underserved areas. It also includes $7.8 million to maintain the right of spousal refusal. The spending plan will establish the New York State Secure Choice Savings retirement program for private-sector employees. The program, administered by a seven member program board and chaired by the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance, will allow New Yorkers to better prepare and save for retirement.

"Secure Choice will offer hard working men and women across New York an easy way to save for their futures through effective payroll deduction. And it's a great tool for small companies to attract and retain quality workers. AARP thanks Speaker Heastie, Assemblymember Rodriguez and the Assembly for ensuring Secure Choice's inclusion in the final state budget to close the growing retirement savings gap," said AARP New York State Director Beth Finkel.

A Douglas County jury has awarded $11.3 million in damages to an Omaha mother of 10, finding Farmers Insurance had acted in bad faith in refusing to make good on her husband's $350,000 life insurance policy.

The case — brought by Vaneza Ramos after her husband, Jose Gaytan, died of COVD-19 in 2020 — followed years of litigation and two jury trials.

At the first, in March, a jury found that Farmers had breached its insurance contract, rejecting the company's allegation of fraudulent misrepresentation.

At the second earlier this month in Omaha, a separate jury considered whether Farmers had acted in bad faith and, if so, the harm caused by its denial of the claim.

"Beyond the verdict amount, this is a compelling local story about a South Omaha family that lost a husband and father during the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial and personal challenges that followed, and the role of a jury in holding an insurance company accountable," said attorney Ross Pesek, who represented Ramos along with Alejandra Ayotitla.

According to the complaint, Gaytan had named his wife, Ramos, as the beneficiary. But after he died May 31, 2020, the company denied her claim, prompting the lawsuit.

In an answer, Farmers New World Life Insurance Co. acknowledged that they issued a policy to Gaytan on Nov. 28, 2018, listing Ramos as the sole primary beneficiary.

But the company's lawyer contended he had failed to disclose his history of a heart attack (specifically a myocardial infarction he'd had that August), denied the claim and sent Ramos a check for $17,360.87, to refund the premiums paid on the policy.

Ramos didn't cash it.

District Court Judge Katie Benson initially granted summary judgment in favor of Farmers. But in December 2024, the Nebraska Court of Appeals reversed and sent the case back to district court on the breach of contract and bad faith claims.

The appellate court said Farmers had failed to establish that Gayton had intended to deceive the company.

Gayton had texted his insurance agent about his hospitalization that August, and he answered "yes" on a medical questionnaire asking if he'd been treated, hospitalized or taken medication for a range of issues, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart attack.

Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to Ramos, the court said there were genuine issues of material fact for a jury.

At a three-day trial, Pesek told the jurors: "A promise to protect should not be broken."

He said that promise, and the consequences of breaking it, were at the heart of the case.

Pesek said Ramos and Gayton together raised a blended family of 10 children and operated a family business in Omaha. In May 2020, they'd had their youngest. Later that month, Gayton was hospitalized with COVID-19 and died of it May 31.

He said evidence at trial described the financial pressure that followed. Ramos had to borrow from family and her mother moved in to help care for the children. Gayton's truck got repossessed, and their son set aside his plans in order to take on substantial responsibilities in the family business.

Pesek compared Ramos' fight to the story of David and Goliath.

"There is one moment that even Goliath fears. It's this moment. It's accountability because of a jury," he told the jury, which returned its verdict Oct. 16.

Farmers' attorney, Quinn Eaton, didn't respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

Distributed by Newsbank, inc.