November 4, 2025
The NYS Council recently pressed hard for DoH to issue updated SCN billing guidance that would give CCBHC Demo providers confidence that they can screen and assess CCBHC Demo clients for Social Care Needs services without running into a billing and payment compliance issue some felt stood in the way of their ability to do so.
The State has posted updated SCN billing guidance here: Information for Health Care Providers. Please see pages 262-263, section VI.
I’m hoping our focused advocacy has paid off and that our CCBHC Demo members now have the written back up they need to immediately begin screening Demo clients in situations where they may have been hesitant to do so.
What we know about New York’s application for federal rural health program
The state is vying for its share of the new $50 billion federal fund.
By Katelyn Cordero | 11/04/2025 02:54 PM EST
ALBANY, New York — New York is seeking to secure a portion of a new $50 billion federal fund to bolster its rural health care industry.
The application, which is due by midnight Wednesday, is being finalized by state Health Department officials. The state had less than two months to compile a lengthy application outlining how it would utilize its share of the funding.
Health Department officials gathered input from health care industry stakeholders in September. Many who submitted proposals to the state told POLITICO they would like to see the state focus on addressing workforce shortages and transportation deficiencies and bolstering rural technology infrastructure.
Context: The $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program was included in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted in July. Half of the fund will be divided equally among states that apply. The other half will be distributed at the discretion of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz.
The amount New York receives will likely depend in part on whether the state implements policies pushed by the Trump administration, such as barring low-income people from using food aid to purchase “non-nutritious foods,” mandating schools reestablish the Presidential Fitness Test and requiring doctors to take continuing education classes on nutrition.
States won’t have the ability to appeal if their applications are rejected or they receive less money than expected. Oz said in September that the government reserves the right to claw back the funding if states don’t use it as the administration sees fit.
Background: Gov. Kathy Hochul has been at odds with the Trump administration, particularly over the use of state dollars to cover health care for immigrants. Federal officials have been targeting New York — home to the top two congressional Democrats — by freezing funding for key programs since the onset of the federal government shutdown.
Health care leaders in New York worry the political division between New York Democrats and the Trump administration could result in less funding compared to red states with smaller health care industries.
What’s to come: CMS is expected to announce how much each state will be awarded through the program by Dec. 31.