OASAS and OMH have received notification from the federal government related to the termination of several federal grants, effective 3/24/25.  We MUST TAKE ACTION to ensure we can continue to provide these essential services in the weeks and months to come.

1) Please call out members of the NYS Congressional Delegation to address the federal grant terminations.  According to the Governor’s Press Release (last week) OASAS has lost $40M (total), while OMH has lost $27M.  Therefore, the request for immediate assistance from the delegation should be $67M.  The NYS Council VoterVoice system is ready to assist you with sending letters to your representative/s here: https://nyscouncil.org/advocacy-action-center/

2) At the state level we are calling on the Governor and legislative leaders to come together to close the funding gaps that threaten to eliminate critical programs and services across the SUD and OMH systems of care.  Considering the NY state budget is still in play, it makes complete sense for us to be calling on lawmakers to appropriate the funds we need to close the gap in entirety, allowing providers the time and space to mitigate the cuts and (where necessary) try to absorb impacted staff.  The NYS Council is calling on Governor Hochul and state lawmakers to establish (during ongoing state budget negotiations process) a Contingency Fund account in each of the two state agency budgets (OASAS and OMH) to include adequate funds to permit the Offices to help providers preserve continuity of care.  Our letter generator page includes communications you can send to state leaders to request full restoration of grant funds for impacted OASAS & OMH providers.   https://nyscouncil.org/advocacy-action-center/

We are asking that all members send a letter to their Assembly representatives urging them to vigorously support the inclusion of our OMIG Audit Reform bill (A1069A) in the final enacted state budget. To send a letter to your Assembly representatives, use the online link here, and click on the OMIG Audit Reform box.

For too long, Medicaid audits conducted by the NYS OMIG have relied on tactics that are unnecessarily punitive. Providers who have operated in good faith and delivered high quality care live in fear of these OMIG audits because they can be punished severely for technical and/or human errors that are not material to whether the Medicaid recipient received the service, or the quality of care provided to the individual. Current OMIG audit practices include application of extrapolation to clerical errors, which has resulted in disproportionate findings and enormous fines that can shut down the entire program, or impact a Medicaid providers’ ability to continue to provide critical services to their communities. This practice is crippling and risks the continued viability of New York’s safety net system.

Please help us ensure these protections are included in the final state budget due April 1st.

We are in a behavioral crisis of enormous proportion and need the Legislature to include a 7.8% inflationary increase in rates and contracts to support mental health and substance use disorder provider operations AND staff wages.

Please call your legislators requesting a flexible 7.8 % inflationary rate and contract increase for BOTH wages and operating expenses for mental health and substance use disorder services and supports. Your Voice Will Make a Difference!

 Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins
(518) 455-2585

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie
 (518) 455-3791

Message:  “Please support a 7.8% inflationary increase in rates and contracts for mental health and substance use disorder staff and operations in the final budget. Without this additional funding, countless adults, children, and families will not get the services and support they desperately need.”

There is a disparate availability of critical services to address the youth mental health crisis in New York.  This has resulted in persistent waiting lists for outpatient and home-based care that range from several weeks to many months with some children and youth forced to live in hospital emergency rooms while awaiting an appropriate referral for follow-up care upon discharge from the hospital.  The NYS Council urges the state to require regulated commercial insurance and child health plus to provide coverage for children’s mental health and SUD services consistent with coverage under the NY Medicaid Program. Examples of mental health services currently available to Medicaid beneficiaries but not mandated to be covered by commercial insurance include HCBS and CFTSS services.