New Yorkers continue to learn more about what Gov. Kathy Hochul intends to include in her State of the State Address on Tuesday.

The governor has unveiled multiple health care-related proposals this week. Lawmakers largely support the overall message, but say they’ll need to see specifics and get a better understanding of the fiscal impact before throwing support behind the plans entirely.

The governor unveiled initiatives to protect New Yorkers from medical debt, limit hospitals’ ability to sue low-income patients and eliminate insurance copays for insulin, among other things.

“It will be the most expansive insulin cost-sharing prohibition in the nation,” she said this week.

State Senator Gustavo Rivera, who leads the Senate Committee on Health, said the overall issues the governor is looking to tackle are familiar.

“I’ve been here long enough, and I know the devil is always in the details,” he said. “I’m supportive of a lot of what the governor has proposed. There are a few things that are directly related to bills that I have been carrying for years.”

Reiterating the need to see specifics before offering his full support, he told Spectrum News 1 that whether through the executive budget, or by passing individual legislation, he sees improving access to insulin as a priority this session.

“We need to do something different,” he said. “I believe the power of the state exists to do things like this, to make sure that people who require insulin, which is a lifesaving medicine, are able to get it.”

Health Committee Ranking Member Senator Pat Gallivan said the financial impact of diabetes hits New York families hard.

“Millions of New Yorkers have diabetes, and they often have to forgo the appropriate treatment because they aren’t able to afford it,” he said.

He said that whether by eliminating copays or assisting New Yorkers with medical debt, he has concerns about the fiscal implications of such sweeping proposals.

“We should help them, but we have to strike a proper balance because somebody has to pay for it,” he said. “Whether it’s hospitals, whether it’s doctors, whether it’s all New Yorkers.”

Lev Ginsburg, executive director of the New York State Conference of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, said he’s concerned such a proposal could drive up the cost of insurance.

He emphasized that he feels such a proposal should focus not on insurance copays, but on what companies are charging for the product, one he says is more than a century old.

“We need to be crystal clear about what is driving these costs,” he said. “It has nothing to do with health insurers, it has nothing to do with health insurance. It has to do with the fact that people are cashing in on a 100-year-old product.”

In response, the governor’s office said its priority is helping bring down costs for those with the disease.

“New Yorkers who have diabetes face health costs that are more than double those of New Yorkers who don’t,” said Justin Henry, deputy communications director for Hochul’s office. “They need financial relief, not finger-pointing from their insurers. Governor Hochul proposed a ban on copays for insulin as part of a State of State agenda focused on affordability, and the governor will keep pushing forward on measures to put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets.”

The governor also proposed this week initiatives that would increase the maximum benefit for paid medical and disability leave, as well as a set of proposals that would enhance prenatal care and ease the financial burden of childbirth.