July 3, 2025
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been speaking on the floor of the House for 3 hours, using what federal lawmakers refer to as his ‘golden minute’ (no time limits for leaders when they debate) to call out Republicans and read stories from Americans who will be negatively impacted by passage of the bill as lawmakers and others stand beside him. That ‘golden minute’ and other really ridiculous rules around how long a vote can be held, came in handy for Speaker Mike Johnson several times over the last 24 hours during which time he held up a vote to move the bill to the floor so President Trump could call the Republican ‘holdouts’ (Freedom Caucus members, fiscal hawks) who had been threatening to spoil his fun by voting ‘no’ on the bill. At the end of the day, Trump and Johnson herded the cats and secured enough holdouts votes, Johnson told the media he had the votes to put the bill on the floor, and the vote is expected right after Jeffries concludes his speech. The House is going to pass this bill shortly (once Leader Jeffries yields the floor) and it will not need to go back to the Senate for further debate since the bill the House will vote on aligns with the Senate bill entirely. Passage is all but inevitable.
President Trump flies to later today to attend a 4th of July 4th celebration tomorrow. It is clear as day that the Trump imposed July 4 deadline was entirely unnecessary but for Trump’s desire to celebrate this victory (and himself) on ‘Independence Day’.
The House bill takes aim and fires at NYS in a way few can fathom at this point. I will search for the most comprehensive and easy-to-understand summary of all the bill’s healthcare and related provisions impacting our members and the individuals and families you serve and I will share it as soon as I see it. Yesterday during the Webinar DoH hosted to discuss the Senate bill implications, State Medicaid Director Amir Bassiri stated that the implementation of Work Requirements (as discussed in the Senate and House bills) will cost NYS $500M. I share this as a relatively minor example of the hidden costs associated with implementation of MANY of the most draconian provisions in the bill and that’s nothing compared with the $13-$15B NYS has to ‘find’ to fill the numerous federal funding gaps left by implementation of the bill.
As if all of this isn’t quite enough, here’s a breaking story from the NY Post: https://nypost.com/2025/07/02/us-news/house-gop-probes-kathy-hochul-over-hoarding-medicaid-funds-to-plug-billion-dollar-budget-hole/
And there is more on this from Politico this morning:
House Oversight Committee chair James Comer, along with New York Republican Reps. Nick LaLota and Mike Lawler, are probing reports that New York state “has been failing to abide by the law and match federal Medicaid funds.”
Comer (R-Ky.) and his colleagues sent a letter Wednesday to Gov. Kathy Hochul citing New York Post and Spectrum News coverage from last year and 2023 of the alleged clawback of funds to counties and hospitals to balance state books. “The abuse of federal taxpayer funds intended to ensure health care coverage for the most vulnerable to cover up your state’s budget shortfall is unacceptable,” the House Republicans wrote.
Hochul spokesperson Emma Wallner responded in a statement: “This is a pathetic attempt by New York’s Republican delegation to distract from their second vote to kick 1.5 million New Yorkers off their healthcare. If they really cared about their constituents’ access to Medicaid, they’d head to the House floor and vote no on this disastrous bill.”
Hochul — a frequent foil for Republicans — and two fellow Democratic governors appeared last month before the House Oversight Committee to testify on their states’ “sanctuary” policies limiting cooperation between state and federal law enforcement on immigration matters.
Lawler is considering a challenge against Hochul next year. — Emily Ngo
And finally, here’s more on the process from Politico:
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Where we’re at: Shortly before 6 a.m. this morning, the House was still crawling toward a final vote, which is now expected in the next couple hours. Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he has the numbers he needs after successfully flipping up to a dozen holdouts — with Trump’s assistance, natch — over the course of a long and painful night. Voting was delayed further at 3 a.m. when it transpired Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) had driven back to Pennsylvania after casting his vote yesterday morning. The whole of Congress had to sit and wait while he drove back to D.C. No rush, pal. CACO: In the end, it was all very predictable — Congress always chickens out, as someone put it to your Playbook author. But this was a genuinely close-run thing, and Trump spent much of the evening making his displeasure clear: “What are the Republicans waiting for???” the president boomed on Truth Social, shortly after midnight, with more than a dozen Republicans still refusing to back the bill. “What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!”And soon after: “FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!” In truth, it was anything but easy for Hill Republicans, given this bill both massively increases America’s already-ballooning deficit while also delivering the biggest cut to Medicaid budgets in ages. That means neither moderates nor hawks are remotely happy, and made the job of GOP negotiators so much harder — with every concession in one direction triggering an explosion of anger in the other. Deja vu: The impasse meant House leadership required hours simply to push through the procedural rule that would allow them to bring the bill to the floor. Four Republicans initially voted against the rule — Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Keith Self (R-Texas), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) — and were swiftly joined by a fifth, serial rebel Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). Famous for 15 minutes: Clyde and Self are both members of the deficit-hating House Freedom Caucus, while Spartz is a famously eccentric member who planned to vote against the rule but then back the bill itself. Fitzpatrick’s “no” vote, however, was a genuine surprise — he’s a moderate and had given little indication he was prepared to block the bill. Observers noted he had been outraged earlier by the Trump administration’s decision this week to halt some weapons exports to Ukraine, although it’s unclear if that was a factor in his decision. The five refuseniks were in turn joined by another group of eight HFC hardliners who simply refused to vote at all, insisting more time was needed for Congress to find a better (and cheaper) solution. “The bottom line is we can’t do it the next few days,” said HFC Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.), partway through the evening. “But I do believe by next week we can come to an agreement.” |
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But Johnson & co. wanted results faster than that, and the GOP leadership swiftly turned the screws. Trump worked the phones — holding 1 a.m. calls with some of the holdouts, per The Hill’s Mychael Schnel and Mike Lillis — while the White House pumped out aggressive social media content from multiple feeds, including VP JD Vance and comms chief Steven Cheung. Ever-excitable aide Stephen Miller even wrote on X: “This is the kind of opportunity, once lost, where people look back centuries later and ask how the moment to save civilization was allowed to pass by.” Uh huh. How it happened: The band of holdouts “say they’ve secured commitments from the White House on a variety of topics, especially on how the megabill is implemented,” POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill reports for Inside Congress. “But House Republicans described the hours of talks as more of a venting session for the hard-liners.” In the end, of course, the HFC caved. Magic Mike: The bill’s final passage will mark another big win for Johnson, who first backed the impossible-looking strategy of squeezing all Trump’s legislative priorities into a single bill. For the nation, the bill’s consequences will be truly far-reaching — turbo-charging Trump’s mass deportation strategy, slashing taxes, pushing millions of people off Medicaid and sending the budget deficit ballooning even higher. With the bill all but passed, the messaging war over those consequences now begins. Playbook noted yesterday that plenty of aspects of the legislation — including the changes to Medicaid — poll well enough individually when framed in the best-possible way. But Democrats still believe the bill presents a unique opportunity for their party to finally claw back public support. Dem-backing campaign groups have their own polling, which shows that taken together, the bill’s measures are largely unpopular — if the opposition party can sell the message that cuts to Medicaid are bad news. That messaging battle starts this evening, where Trump will kick off America’s July Fourth celebrations with a rally in Des Moines, Iowa. Expect plenty of discourse about the size and beauty of this particular piece of legislation from the president. And while we’re doing July Fourth … Let’s end this section on a fun eve-of-Independence Day fact: One in five Americans are now ready to bring back the King. You heard me right: Polling and strategy firm JL Partners asked 1,000 U.S. voters if they support or oppose replacing the current president of the United States with the British monarch. The survey found 19 percent of Americans supported the idea, with 48 percent opposed and the rest on the fence. Whether the unexpectedly high “yes” vote is a reflection of this current U.S. administration, or a growing fondness for the lost monarchical system, you’ll have to decide for yourselves. |
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19 States Have Expanded Medicaid for People Exiting Incarceration, Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars. New York Isn’t One of Them.
The state’s efforts around reentry healthcare have stalled and face an uphill battle under the Trump administration.
Jie Jenny Zou · July 3, 2025, NY Focus
At the Healing Springs Recovery Center in Saratoga Springs, Shayne Richardson connects people battling substance and alcohol abuse with healthcare providers and other forms of support. Many were recently released from prisons or jails, and are navigating sobriety alongside reentry. That’s a familiar challenge to Richardson, who was himself released from prison just over a year ago.
“It keeps me green,” said Richardson. “It just reminds me every day of where I was and where I don’t want to go back to.”
As a peer advocate, Richardson uses his firsthand experience with addiction and incarceration to provide the kind of support he hopes more people could get if New York expands Medicaid for people reentering society.
Under federal law, Medicaid is automatically suspended during incarceration. But for over a decade, the state health department has considered extending coverage to those soon-to-be-released from county jails and state-run prisons.
The expansion, under what’s called a Section 1115 waiver, could provide a lifesaving bridge for a population with high rates of chronic illness, addiction, and mental health disorders — and potentially save the state millions of dollars.
Nineteen states, including California, Kentucky, and Montana, have secured federal approval for their own versions of the program. Several others, including New York, have waiver requests awaiting review.
But New York hasn’t updated its request in years. It would need to be rewritten to align with 2023 federal guidelines that require a minimum of pre-release services, like case management, addiction medications, and counseling. The health department declined to explain the delay or to say whether it will submit a revised petition.
It may now be too late; if the department did rewrite the request, it could face long odds under President Donald Trump. But in the meantime, New York has options closer to home to help recently released people access health care.
Recent moves by the Trump administration suggest new Medicaid expansion programs could face an uphill battle for federal approval. Congress is also moving forward with plans to significantly slash Medicaid to help fund another round of tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.
New York’s outdated proposal would cover limited services a month prior to release for those with certain chronic illnesses like HIV and AIDS, serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, or substance use disorders. By comparison, programs approved in Illinois and Massachusetts apply to all people exiting jails and prisons three months prior to their release and include additional services, like radiology, as well as more extensive medication coverage.
“There’s a lot of people leaving correctional facilities with nothing.”—Ben Deeb, Healing Springs Recovery Center
“We’ve seen states be really, really creative about what they’re able to cover within that waiver,” said Megan French-Marcelin of the Legal Action Center, a nonprofit which has pushed New York to move forward with the effort. She said the state had missed a chance at being an early adopter of expanded Medicaid for released inmates. “Funding-wise, this would save the state millions.”
Chronic health conditions like diabetes and asthma are much more likely to go untreated behind bars, and expanding health care before people are released can improve outcomes and decrease mortality.
Research suggests Medicaid access is also tied to higher rates of post-release employment and reduces recidivism, which in turn saves money. (New York counties spend more than $225 to jail an individual for one night. Prison is even costlier at $315 a day, or $115,000 annually.)
With progress on a federal waiver seemingly stalled, French-Marcelin hopes the state legislature will take up the charge. In June, the state Senate passed a bill that would provide “presumptive” Medicaid eligibility to everyone exiting jails and prisons across the state for up to 60 days, starting from the day of their release. However, the Assembly’s version of the bill didn’t get far before lawmakers went home for the year.
Senator Gustavo Rivera, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill and chairs the chamber’s health committee, wrote in an email to New York Focus: “People return to our communities from incarceration with high rates of mental illness, substance use disorder, and other conditions, but they aren’t provided with the tools to succeed in reentry — like the ability to make doctor’s appointments or obtain medications.”
“We cannot be surprised by the high rates of morbidity, including overdoses, among recently released New Yorkers,” he said.
Amy Paulin, the chair of the Assembly’s health committee, did not respond to questions about the bill or why it didn’t get a vote in her committee.
The state health department told New York Focus that it already coordinates with the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision on a daily basis to reactivate Medicaid coverage for those getting released from state prisons, and that the prison agency is working towards a goal of enrolling every eligible inmate upon release. DOCCS enrolls approximately 200 new individuals into Medicaid every month. Just over 80 percent of people released from prison last year left with Medicaid through either a new enrollment or through reactivated coverage, according to a department spokesperson.
But the health department was less clear on where things stand in local jails, writing only that it was “working with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to determine whether there is a data sharing pathway that would allow the Department to be notified of admissions and releases from local jails.”
A DCJS spokesperson said the agency does not track any information related to Medicaid enrollment and referred Focus back to the health department.
Without an official mandate on the books, it’s up to individual counties that operate local jails to decide what, if any, reentry services to offer. The results, according to French-Marcelin, are a mixed bag.
Some counties told the Legal Action Center they work with an insurance navigator to help some or all reentrants get enrolled or reinstated in Medicaid. Others said they didn’t have the staffing or know-how to help, and a few said they had to stop offering Medicaid assistance due to a lack of funding.
When Richardson was released from state custody last May, he scrambled to get his Medicaid coverage reactivated. He said he received no guidance from DOCCS despite being released from Lakeview Shock, a bootcamp-style state correctional facility centered around an intensive drug treatment program.
Richardson contacted Healing Springs to set up appointments with healthcare providers, and received a prescription to ensure continued access to the medication he was receiving while incarcerated to treat opioid withdrawal.
“I was already integrated in Healing Springs and knew about these resources and was able to take this stuff into my own hands,” said Richardson. “Most people don’t.”
Richardson said he now meets many people who leave state custody without guidance on how to apply for or reactivate Medicaid and end up relapsing within two months.
It can take weeks for local counties to process Medicaid applications and even longer for those recently released to be seen by mental health professionals, due to long waitlists statewide. And it can be difficult for people returning home to find the documents they need to apply in the first place.
Without health care, people are more likely to turn to the streets for prescription drugs, including withdrawal medication, and violate the terms of their parole. “It’s a revolving cycle, it happens all the time,” Richardson said.
“We cannot be surprised by the high rates of morbidity, including overdoses, among recently released New Yorkers.”—Gustavo Rivera, New York state Senate
Planning ahead is key to disrupting that cycle, said Ben Deeb, a peer advocate and supervisor at Healing Springs who helps coordinate Saratoga County Jail reentry efforts. Like Richardson, Deeb was formerly incarcerated and is recovering from addiction.
Deeb regularly receives a list of individuals scheduled for release from the jail within the next six weeks. After meeting with those individuals to discuss their health needs, he forwards their information to an insurance navigator at Saratoga Hospital who assesses their eligibility for Medicaid.
“Saratoga is way ahead of the curve,” said Deeb. “That is not the case everywhere else. There’s a lot of people leaving correctional facilities with nothing.”
Captain Daniel Morley of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office said the program goes hand in hand with policing efforts, since it reduces the number of people with repeat offenses. “You give someone the opportunity for success when they get out of jail. It makes a huge difference if you don’t — you’re basically putting them back into the cycle they came from,” he said.
Morley thinks Saratoga County’s model can be replicated elsewhere in the state, but it ultimately comes down to local support. “There has to be a desire,” he said. ”It’s going to depend on the county.”
Several counties have signaled their support for expanding reentry healthcare. In February, the New York State Association of Counties passed a resolution urging Governor Kathy Hochul and the health department to move forward with an updated federal waiver.
Greene County, just south of Albany, is among the majority of counties that do not currently provide Medicaid enrollment services to those being released, according to the Legal Action Center. The county Social Services Commissioner, Kira Pospesel, voted in favor of the resolution.
“It ends up saving money over time, we’re not dealing with crisis after crisis,” said Pospesel.
At least a third of New York counties told the Legal Action Center that they currently provide some form of Medicaid assistance for those exiting their jails — including New York City, which housed over 60 percent of the state’s total jail population in 2024.
According to Correctional Health Services, which oversees health care in the city’s jails, 85 percent of those released in May left the system with preexisting Medicaid coverage or had applications for Medicaid submitted on their behalf.
In May, 57 percent of city inmates were enrolled in mental health services. Nearly one in three reported issues with alcoholism, and nearly a quarter were struggling with opioid addiction.