FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 27, 2026
CONTACT:
Michael Nitzky
Statement from Lauri Cole, Executive Director of NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare on New York State Budget’s Failure to carve most mental health and substance use disorder services out of Medicaid managed care.
NYS Must Act Enact Carve Out to increase access to care while saving NYS $400M annually
“Despite the pleas from care recipients, advocates, providers, and lawmakers, our state leaders have failed to enact budget language that would carve out most Office of Mental Health (OMH) and New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) substance use disorder services from the state’s Medicaid managed care program, leaving more than one million New Yorkers in need of critical mental health and substance use disorder services to fend for themselves in navigating the disastrous Medicaid managed care system. A Medicaid managed care carve out would not only have saved the state $400 million annually, but it would also cut the red tape that has prevented so many New Yorkers seeking mental health and substance use disorder support and services from getting the assistance they need. However, we won’t stop speaking up on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in need of mental health and substance use disorder services until Albany does the right thing.”
“Failing to include the CARVE OUT in the state’s budget was a dramatic misstep for state leaders and further fuels the skyrocketing profits insurers have made on taxpayers’ dollars while New Yorkers struggle to balance receiving critical care they need or putting food on the table. For over a decade, despite advocates and providers calling for action for years, Governor Hochul and state legislators have allowed a system that was intended to help lessen the financial burden and improve access to care fail at every turn and for most New Yorkers with Medicaid managed care, that burden has turned into a nightmare and access to care continues to be delayed or denied.”
“S.8309-A/A.8055-A, sponsored by Senator Samra Brouk and Assemblywoman Jo Ann Simon, the Chairs of the Senate and Assembly Mental Health Committees respectively, provide a clear, fiscally responsible, and clinically sound solution to shift payment for these vital services based to Medicaid fee-for-service This legislation be passed prior to the 2026 session adjourning.”