April 28, 2023
Last night, Governor Hochul, flanked by her senior staff, announced a conceptual agreement on a new state budget @$229 billion. The Governor made a point of stating the deal supports her priority to ensure adequate state reserves at 15%. She also mentioned the historic $1B investment in mental health to include:
- 1,000 Psychiatric Beds
- $30M for children’s mental health
- Significant expansion of outpatient MH clinic services
- Network Adequacy changes (although she did not use the term, it’s obvious what she was alluding to)
The Governor did not mention the Human Services COLA during the press event. The NYS Council continues to press for 8.5% and will do so until we see budget language that responds to the question about the state’s commitment to our workforce crisis and the continued financial stress that has severely limited access to care.
The leaders – Speaker Carl Heastie and Majority Leader Andrew Stewart-Cousins – were not present for the Governor’s announcement although after the press event, the NY Times spoke to Speaker Carl Heastie who confirmed the conceptual agreement and added that there is still work to be done. We have heard staff will be working through the weekend to hammer out the details so budget bills can go to print for passage early next week. it is possible a deal on the exact amount of the Human Services COLA has not yet been reached. Earlier this week, we sent all members an email that discussed some of the information we have been hearing about agreements on the behavioral health insurance proposals, the COLA, school-based mental health clinic rate increases and more. That information is not yet confirmed by actual language in budget bills.
Other topline agreements include changes to bail reform that will give judges more discretion to set bail requirements, agreement on a Minimum Wage increase, and language designed to crack down on illegal marijuana retailers, which was one of the final sticking points. Hospitals and nursing homes will receive significant Medicaid rate increases (7.5% Medicaid inpatient hospital care, and 6.5% Medicaid increase for outpatient services and nursing homes) with an additional $500M made available to assist distressed hospitals. It has been said there is $700M in the budget to address 340B shortages although at this time details on this are sparse and many advocacy groups continue to call for a reversal of the recently implemented Medicaid pharmacy carve out.
While we wait, we wanted to share a number of news stories (below) that discuss topline agreements that will be part of the enacted budget.
NYS of Politics (Spectrum):
https://nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-politics/new-york/politics/2023/04/27/new-york-budget-deal-changes-bail-law–boosts-school-funding–ups-minimum-wage?cid=share_twitter
City & State:
https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2023/04/hochul-announces-tentative-agreement-state-budget/385739/