October 31, 2025

NEW OMH Grant Opportunity: 

Collaborative Care for Perinatal Mental Health:  A new Grant Opportunity has been posted in the Statewide Financial System (SFS). Click here for more information.

NEW from The Commonwealth Fund:

NEW FROM THE NATIONAL COUNCIL:

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STATE BUDGET 

(Politico Pro, 10/31)

The latest economic forecast shows significant improvement in the state government’s grim financial picture — spurred by higher revenue projections — in the coming years, the Division of the Budget announced on Thursday.

But these improvements have been offset by increased burdens on Albany from recent federal funding cuts.

“The economic outlook has now improved significantly from DOB’s previous forecast, reflecting strong wage growth, continued stock market strength fueled by expected growth in the technology sector, and slower than expected impacts from the tariffs,” according to the division’s mid-year update.

That means tax receipts are estimated to be $2.6 billion higher than initially predicted in the current budget year, which wraps up on March 31, 2026. And they’re projected to be $5.3 billion higher in the year that starts next April.

But the division warned the economic picture is still murky thanks to federal actions such as “unpredictable tariff policies and concomitant concerns about the potential for a trade war” and the ongoing federal government shutdown.

And the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in July, is projected to add more costs to the state. “The Federal bill is projected to increase State costs by roughly $800 million in the current year, $3.4 billion next year, and grows to more than $4 billion by [fiscal year] 2019,” the report concluded.

One big question mark for the state is whether the feds will approve a waiver request to adjust the classification of residents whose health care status was impacted by the federal megabill. For the purposes of the mid-year report, accountants worked with the assumption that the waiver will not be granted. But if it is, that could result in $2.7 billion less in health care costs, lowering next year’s budget gap from $4.2 to $1.5 billion.

Budget-makers also concluded the recent changes to CDPAP — the state’s popular, but troubled home care program for Medicaid enrollees — “are expected to exceed the $500 million savings estimate.”

The division’s report comes two weeks after Comptroller Tom DiNapoli similarly concluded the revenue picture was improving.

Still, next year’s budget will likely be extremely complicated as a still-sizable deficit will need to be addressed. Gov. Kathy Hochul will likely be pressured from the left — including from a potential Zohran Mamdani administration in New York City — to increase taxes and spending, as well as the right, with Republicans likely placing tax bills at the center of their messaging in a gubernatorial election year.

And here is a link to an article in this morning’s NY Post on the financial picture facing New York as we head in to state budget negotiations: The state is now on track to rake in $259 billion in revenue this fiscal year thanks to the six-month boost – $2.6 billion more for the 12-month period than Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget office had originally forecast, the New York Post reports.

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News from CMS:Former Unite Us CEO Dan Brillman has been tapped to lead Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency announced Tuesday. 

Here’s an excerpt from a Fierce Healthcare article published earlier this week:  

Dan Brillman, co-founder and CEO of health tech company Unite Us, is being vetted and could be named director of the Centers for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) in the coming weeks, multiple sources close to the matter confirmed to Fierce Healthcare. 

Unite Us and Brillman did not respond to requests for comment at press time.

The expected appointment comes as the agency sets out to implement major revisions to the Medicaid program passed in President Donald Trump’s tax package on July 4. The legislation adds new work requirements to Medicaid eligibility and more frequent redeterminations, and will reduce program spending by $911 billion over 10 years. 

The health tech industry is seizing the opportunity to bring AI into state Medicaid agencies to check for eligibility and adjudicate coverage. The Coalition for Health AI launched a tiger team earlier this week to help AI companies do so responsibly. 

Brillman’s business background is uncommon for a position traditionally held by people with policy experience. President Joe Biden’s Medicaid director previously ran the Massachusetts Medicaid program during the Obama and Trump administrations. The current Acting Medicaid Director, Caprice Knapp, has held positions at the Congressional Budget Office, North Dakota’s Medicaid program and as a fellow for a House healthcare committee.

While Brillman was pursuing an MBA at Columbia, veterans he had served with called him about their health and social service issues, seeking help. In his telling, Brillman began calling housing services, only to discover how challenging it was to coordinate. He wrote a paper about the issue, and through his school, met his future co-founder.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has tapped a health tech executive to lead in government. In April, Chris Klomp, former CEO of health IT company Collective Medical, was appointed head of Medicare. He is expected to modernize the agency through tech and data, STAT reported. Though he never held a role in government, Klomp’s friends cited in the report noted he has worked with public healthcare programs throughout his business ventures.

CMS has lost at least 300 staff members this year due to the federal workforce cuts led by the Department of Government Efficiency and Kennedy’s reorganization of HHS, which could possibly complicate the new Medicaid director’s work. The agency has been consolidated from 28 agencies to 15. 

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SNAP ASSISTANCE EMERGENCY

SNAP funding is all but guaranteed to lapse Saturday for the first time even if a federal judge orders the Trump Admin. to keep paying for the program.

And, even if Congress agrees on a funding patch for the program when lawmakers return next week, logistical and administrative delays would prevent the money from flowing immediately.

More on the SNAP Assistance Emergency from PoliticoPro, 10/31:

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Thursday in response to the Trump administration’s plan to cut off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits on Saturday, as a result of the government shutdown.

The governor announced that $65 million in state funds would be allocated to bolster support for food banks, pantries, and soup kitchens that provide food assistance to New Yorkers.

The state will also deploy the Empire State Service Corps and SUNY Corps to support food banks across the state and on college campuses. Thursday’s announcement comes days after Hochul fast-tracked $41 million for emergency food assistance earlier in the week.

“Unlike Washington Republicans, I won’t sit idly by as families struggle to put food on the table. Today, I’m declaring a state of emergency and am committing additional state funds for emergency food assistance to ensure New Yorkers don’t go hungry,” Hochul said in a statement. “Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have the power to stop this crisis — millions of families depend on it.”

Several advocacy groups are urging Hochul to step in to fully fund New York’s SNAP program for the month of November, citing Virginia and Delaware as examples.

“The facts don’t support Governor Hochul’s claim that no state can fund SNAP benefits to their residents. And we urge her to use State funds to pay for all or some of November SNAP benefits, just as multiple other states have already done,” Hunger Free America, Citizen Action of New York and VOCAL-NY said in a joint statement following Hochul’s announcement.

In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams announced $15 million in emergency funding for the Department of Social Services’ community food connection program, which supports over 700 food pantries and soup kitchens.

The city is also urging philanthropic groups to support emergency food efforts through contributions to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City.

“As a working-class mayor who grew up in a family living on the edge of homelessness and that relied on government assistance, I will always fight for our most vulnerable residents,” Adams said in a statement Thursday. “We are activating all of our social services agencies to ensure they are prepared to contribute where they can, and we urge our philanthropic partners, faith leaders, and community members to contribute even more.”

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OSB AWARDS

The state awarded $1 million in opioid settlement funds to support development of community prevention coalitions, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday. The funding will enable the program, which launched in early 2024, to continue through the end of 2028.

The funding will support organizations in high-need counties that offer prevention services such as drug destruction kits and medication lock boxes. The recipients are the Columbia-Greene Addiction Coalition; Council on Addiction, Prevention and Education of Dutchess County; Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County; Westchester-Ellenville Hospital and Prevention Works.

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SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH WORKER SHORTAGE

On October 28th, a federal judge ruled that the Trump Administration must release withheld grant funding for addressing the school mental health worker shortage. Congress funded the mental health program in 2022 following the Uvalde school shooting. The Trump administration, however, has cut nearly $1 billion of the congressionally-approved grants, telling recipients that they would not receive funding past December 2025 because of the diversity considerations used in awarding the grants. Sixteen states sued the Education Department over the lost funds in June, arguing that the funding was congressionally-appropriated and the cuts were therefore unconstitutional. Judge Kymberly K. Evanson agreed, issuing the preliminary injunction. The Education Department has said they will appeal the ruling.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the preliminary injunction will allow New York to continue spending $7.6 million in funding for school-based mental health programs. The New York Attorney General’s press release is available here.

On October 28th, a federal judge ruled that the Trump Administration must release withheld grant funding for addressing the school mental health worker shortage. Congress funded the mental health program in 2022 following the Uvalde school shooting. The Trump administration, however, has cut nearly $1 billion of the congressionally-approved grants, telling recipients that they would not receive funding past December 2025 because of the diversity considerations used in awarding the grants. Sixteen states sued the Education Department over the lost funds in June, arguing that the funding was congressionally-appropriated and the cuts were therefore unconstitutional. Judge Kymberly K. Evanson agreed, issuing the preliminary injunction. The Education Department has said they will appeal the ruling.