FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Twenty-one associations and coalitions representing thousands of community-based organizations that serve over a million New Yorkers with significant substance use disorder/mental health challenges and their loved ones has been working together for over 6 months seeking budget language that would carve out most mental health and substance use disorder services from the state’s Medicaid managed care program. Carve out campaign members are deeply disappointed that neither the Assembly nor Senate one-house budget bills released last night include such a proposal.
Lauri Cole, Executive Director of NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare and Campaign Lead said:
“New York lawmakers had an opportunity to do something extraordinary: expand access to care for thousands of New Yorkers in crisis, save New York $400 million annually, restore direct accountability over mental health and substance use disorder services and reduce crippling administrative burdens on community providers.
S.8309-A/A.8055-A, sponsored by Senator Samra Brouk and Assemblywoman JoAnn Simon the Chairs of the Senate and Assembly Mental Health Committees respectively —provide a clear, fiscally responsible, and clinically sound solution. Budget negotiations are not over, and we will continue to fight for its inclusion in the final budget because timely access to mental health and substance use disorder services and supports is paramount when a New Yorker reaches out for care.”
“When individuals and families reach out for help during a mental health or substance use crisis, they should be able to access care quickly and without unnecessary barriers. Cutting red tape helps ensure people can connect with the services and supports they need when they need them most. While we are disappointed the behavioral health carve-out was not included in the one-house budgets, we remain hopeful it will be considered as budget negotiations continue.” Nathan McLaughlin, Executive Director, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill New York State (NAMI)
“Parents and young people with lived experience are deeply disappointed that our legislature did not propose carving out behavioral health from Medicaid Managed Care and reinvest savings directly into services in their One-House budgets,” said Paige Pierce, CEO of Families Together in New York State. “Recently, we asked families and young people how we would know we’ve designed a perfect youth behavioral health system. One of the most common answers: ‘when we don’t have to wait forever to get help.’ New York State leaders could have moved us closer to that goal. Instead, they leave for-profit insurers in control of Medicaid who deny and delay access to care to boost their own profits at the expense of people who need services.”
“We are disappointed that the Senate and Assembly one-house budgets did not include the proposal to carve behavioral health services out of Medicaid managed care,” said Luke Sikinyi, Vice President of Public Policy for the Alliance for Rights and Recovery. “After more than a decade of delays, denials, and barriers created by this system, we believe this was a missed opportunity to move these services out of managed care so New Yorkers can access the support they need without unnecessary obstacles. We thank Mental Health Chairs Samra Brouk and Jo Anne Simon for continuing to push for this critically needed reform. Eliminating the insurance middlemen will help ensure people can find providers, receive timely support, and allow public dollars to go directly toward services that strengthen recovery and community stability.”
“Friends of Recovery–New York and the statewide recovery community are deeply disappointed that the Legislature’s One-House budget bills failed to address ongoing problems with Medicaid Managed Care in behavioral health. We must ensure that people living with substance use disorder and mental health challenges have access to the services they need in their communities so they can recover. Unnecessary administrative burdens placed on community-based providers divert time and resources away from care and make it harder to hire and retain the workforce needed to meet growing demand. This represents a missed opportunity for the state to reduce costs; moving behavioral health services back to Medicaid Fee-For-Service, as proposed in S.8309A / A.8055A, would cut out unnecessary insurance middlemen, reduce administrative waste, and generate significant savings for New York while expanding access to treatment. Supporting community-based providers and reducing insurance bureaucracy will help strengthen the behavioral health system while saving the state millions of dollars. We will continue advocating for policies that support community-based providers, expand access to care, and ensure New Yorkers can get the treatment they need to recover,” said Christopher Assini, CRPA-P, Director of Policy, Friends of Recovery (FOR-NY).
“It is more than disappointing when government partners cannot be relied upon to support legislative requests that the directly affected overwhelmingly endorse. Both patients and providers looked forward to the inclusion in both houses of legislation that would have carved behavioral healthcare out from the oversight of Medicaid managed care insurance providers. At a time when access to care for the most vulnerable should be as seamless as possible, alternative suggestions should be embraced, not ignored,” Tracy Schneider, LCSW-R, CEO, Federation of Behavioral Health Services.
Allegra Schorr, President of the Coalition of Medication Assisted Treatment Providers and Advocates (COMPA), said: “We are deeply disappointed that the Legislature’s One-House budget bills did not address the failure of Medicaid Managed Care in behavioral health. After a decade, the system has failed New Yorkers who need treatment—adding unnecessary costs for the state, imposing crushing administrative burdens on providers, and routinely denying payment for care that was properly delivered.
These failures undermine access to life-saving treatment and make it harder for programs to recruit and retain staff. Moving behavioral health services back to Medicaid Fee-For-Service would save hundreds of millions of dollars while expanding access to care.
We urge legislative leaders to address this issue during final budget negotiations and put patients—not insurance bureaucracy—first by passing S.8309 / A.8055.”
“ACL joins our behavioral health advocacy partners in expressing disappointment that the managed care carve-out was not included in either the Senate or Assembly one-house budget proposals. The current managed care system continues to create delays, denials, and administrative burdens that undermine access to care and service delivery. As the budget process moves into negotiations, we remain committed to working alongside our partners to advance this proposal.” Laura Isabelle, Director of Policy, Association for Community Living.
###