March 11, 2025
NYS Council High Priorities & One House Budget Bills (list continued from earlier today):
COLA
Both the Senate and the Assembly put up funds to close the gap between what the Governor proposed for a COLA for the Human Services sector in her executive budget proposal (2.1% – not bifurcated) and the target we set of 7.8% to address inflation. While both bills put up additional funds the Senate version limits the funds to staff only (as opposed to it being a flexible increase where agencies are able to use the funds for both operations and staff salaries, etc.). We need to ensure we get to 7.8% at the end of the day, and that these funds can ALL be used flexibly. Providers that receive these increases (when they occur) are required to sign an attestation stating they will use the funds as prescribed by law. Last year we saw a bifurcated COLA enacted, due in large part to rumors and false allegations coming from other stakeholders with an axe to grind, stating that providers were misusing the funds. Some lawmakers bought it. We will work to make sure we correct the record (again) once and for all.
Children, Youth and Families
Both the Senate and Assembly bills released last night include funding for the children, youth and families mental health and SUD rate increases. The Senate one house budget resolution includes $200 million that would increase rates for services provided to children, youth and families in Article 31, Article 32-822, CFTSS, and HCBSprograms, while the Assembly puts up $16M. That’s a big gap so we have a lot of work to do on this one although it is generally good news. It also appears that the Assembly is relying on funds from the MCO Tax to pay for this and many other priorities. As we stated earlier today, the MCO Tax may/may not become a reality in NYS. Background: Several years ago our colleagues at Health Management Associates (HMA) were retained by the HealthyMinds, HealthKids Campaign to perform a rate analysis that found $200M was the number we needed to boost access to care for children/youth/families services:
- See the Senate Budget Resolution (top of page 44 – attached document)
- Assembly $16.5 million (from Assembly Aid to Localities bill)
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MCO Tax Both the Senate and the Assembly added to the list of provider types that would be eligible for MCO Tax proceeds, should the tax be implemented here in New York. In neither case do we see BH providers on the lists. (We will of course fight for eligibility in the days to come.) The Assembly went further and modified the Executive proposal to reinvest $1.4 billion in MCO tax revenue (in their Aid to Localities bill) as follows:
o $100 million in hospital outpatient rate increases, for a total of $405 million in hospital investments;
o $50 million in nursing home, assisted living, and hospice rates for a total of $250 million;
o $25 million to increase rates for clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers, for a total of $35 million;
o $16.5 million for children’s behavioral health investments
o $15 million in Certified Home Health Agency investments;
o $10 million to increase Early Intervention rates by 5 percent;
o $12.4 million to restore funding for prescriber prevails;
o $9.6 million for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) reforms;
o $7.5 million reduction in the physician fee schedule investments, for a total of $42.5 million, to account for spending associated with not including the elimination of the specialty physician independent dispute resolution (IDR) process;
o $5 million reduction in the Mainstream Managed Care Quality Pool investment, for a total of $45 million, to account for spending associated with not including the authorization of plan penalties; and
o $239 million reduction in the Global Cap offset to reflect the additional OSA spending reclassification.
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OMIG Audit Reform
The Senate included the language from our new OMIG Audit Reform bill in its Budget Resolution whereas the Assembly was silent on the matter. This puts the issue in play for the remainder of the budget negotiations (it would be much harder to reach the end zone if neither house had prioritized our request).
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Carve Out
We were not relying on the budget process to achieve this outcome and that’s why we recently announced that Assemblywoman JoAnn Simon (Chair, Assembly MH Committee) and Senator Samra Brouck (Chair, Senate MH Committee) will be championing (and sponsoring) our bill as we move ahead with advocacy in the weeks and months to come. There is still plenty of time in the 2025 legislative session to get this done!
March 11, 2025
State Senate & Assembly Release One-House Budget Bills for SYF 2026
The State Senate and Assembly have released their one-house budget bills. They intend to pass them Thursday and three-way negotiations will begin with the Governor with a goal of reaching a final budget deal by April 1st, when the new fiscal year begins.
We are continuing to review each houses’ budget bills and will send additional updates as we have them but wanted to share the Senate Resolution/Summary and Assembly Summary of their one-house budget proposals by sector/agency.
Please find these attached. More updates to follow.