Bills of Interest to NYS Council members:

1) Summary:  A peer support advocate is someone with a lived experience of substance abuse or mental health challenges. Those advocates are used in New York to counsel incarcerated people recovering from a substance use disorder. A new law was approved in 2021 that requires peer support in jails but the implementation has varied between counties. Some have policies regarding employment that prohibit someone from being hired if they were previously incarcerated themselves. This bill would prohibit correctional facilities from denying admission to a peer advocate based solely on their previous criminal history. (A4159A Jackson, Fernandez)

2) Summary:  When a state agency in New York has surplus property, like equipment, it’s offered to other agencies. If no other agency claims the property, it’s then offered to municipalities. But if the municipality doesn’t want it, the property is auctioned to the public. If it doesn’t sell, it has to be tossed in a landfill or incinerated. This would allow the state to instead donate that property to approved nonprofit organizations. (A4723 McDonald, Cooney)

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This just arrived from OASAS:

Dear Providers, Pursuant to Mental Hygiene Law § 25.18 and the New York State Opioid Settlement Sharing Agreement, the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) has the responsibility to audit recipients of Opioid Settlement Funds (OSF). This includes:

• Conducting audits of financial and programmatic records
• Inspection of supporting documents
• Review compliance of use restrictions 

Please be advised that if you are a recipient of OSF monies and are selected for an OSF audit, you will be contacted by a member of the Office of Audit Services – Fiscal Audit and Review Unit. The review will require the following records be provided: OSF policies and procedures. Detailed ledgers of all OSF receipts and expenditures including account coding.

Supporting documentation for disbursed funds included, but not limited to, receipts, invoices, vouchers, payroll journals, timecards, rental agreements, and logs. Documentation of the Local Government Unit/Other Litigating Entities follow up with the provider to ensure the funds were spent appropriately (e.g., quarterly reports, email communications, etc.).Unused OSF revenue closeout procedures. If you have any questions, please contact Steven Shrager, Director of Audit Services, at steven.shrager@oasas.ny.gov. 

Thank you,

Communications Department

NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS)

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FEDERAL BUDGET

The possibility of a federal government shutdown – in part or in full, continues to grow as  the two sides fail to work together to pass the 12 appropriations bills necessary to enact a new federal budget (assuming Trump’s signature).  It is likely we will see another federal budget year (beginning October 1, 2025) where federal spending is held to previous year spending  levels through the use of a Continuing Budget Resolution process – something we have all become very accustomed to. 

There is also talk of the Trump administration sending over another rescission package so the Administration can continue its attempts to clawback previously approved funding.  And, as much as I hate to report it, there are also ongoing reports of a Republican-led package of healthcare bills that would likely be sold as a ‘clean up’ of provisions in HR1 that Republicans are now finding it hard to live with as they continue to duck and cover rather than host or attend town hall meetings across the country and in their districts.  In short, it’s a huge mess.

Democrats press GOP leaders for meeting as shutdown looms

Democrats are renewing pressure on Republicans to discuss a looming end-of-September deadline to fund the government just days before lawmakers return to Washington from their extended summer recess.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote Thursday to Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson, asking them to convene a “Big Four” leaders’ meeting next week. It’s their second request for such a meeting.It is “imperative that we immediately meet upon our return to Congress next week to discuss the need to avert a painful, unnecessary lapse in government funding and to address the healthcare crisis Republicans have triggered in America,” Schumer and Jeffries wrote.

The Democrats first wrote to their Republican counterparts requesting a meeting on Aug. 4. Now Congress is just weeks away from the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline, and the leaders are nowhere close to an agreement.Republicans don’t yet have a plan for how to handle September that unifies their party.Senate GOP leaders, backed by members of the Appropriations Committee and other allies, have floated a short-term spending patch that would give them more time to try to reach a sweeping spending deal with Democrats and the White House. But some conservatives in the House and Senate are already talking about a full-year extension of current spending levels, likely sweetened with targeted spending cuts or other policy priorities — which they believe could get support from inside the administration.Neither Johnson or Thune will turn immediately to the funding fight once Congress returns next week. The House will take up a full-year Energy and Water appropriations bill, and the Senate will start debate on a sweeping defense policy bill. Both chambers are currently set to be out of Washington the week of Sept. 22, though that recess could be at least partially cancelled.Democrats tipped their hand on how they see the battle lines shaping up for the fall funding fight, pushing for details on whether the White House intends to send over a second “rescissions” request to claw back previously approved funding and whether Republicans plan to advance legislation dealing with health care.

There’s bipartisan interest in negotiating a health care package before the end of the year, with talks in the Senate already underway. Democrats and some Republicans want to extend soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act tax credits as part of any larger agreement, but they will have to overcome conservative pushback in both chambers.Democrats are also under pressure from their base, and their own members, to get concrete policy wins in exchange for helping fund the government. Schumer has been convening closed-door caucus meetings for months to discuss potential strategies. While some Democrats want a health care deal attached to a September government funding bill, there’s skepticism it could be done by then, and Republicans view the end of the year as the true deadline.

“Democrats stand ready to work together to lower healthcare costs for the American people, while responsibly completing the appropriations process,” Schumer and Jeffries wrote. “It is past time you reveal your plans to meet the needs of the American people.”

Many of these individuals are at risk of losing coverage or services not because they are ineligible but because the systems are confusing, under-resourced, and not designed with their needs in mind. Join us for a critical, time-sensitive national briefing focused on the rapidly evolving health policy environment following the passage of H.R.1 and what it means for dual-eligible individuals at the state level.

Understanding the Impact of H.R.1 on Dual-Eligible Individuals:  What Community and State Partners Need to Know Now

Hosted by: Community Catalyst, Justice in Aging, Medicare Rights Center

Date | September 9, 2025

Time | 2:00-3:00pm ET

Location | Virtual – Zoom link provided upon registration

Register Here

This webinar will provide practical information, policy context, and community-centered guidance to help you navigate this moment of significant change, including:

• A plain-language overview of H.R.1 and key provisions impacting dual-eligibles 
• A breakdown of what states and community organizations need to know  
• Opportunities for collective action and peer learning by connecting them with national experts and resources 

Who should attend?

Community-based organizations serving older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers State-based advocates Family caregiving coalitions Medicaid agency staff and enrollment navigators Legal aid and health justice organizations Policy and advocacy partners working on aging, disability, or health equity issues 

Alabama system launches ‘warm handoff’ model for behavioral health clients

By: Ella Ruder, Becker’s Hospital News, 8/28As some behavioral health leaders focus on “whole-body” treatment — with an emphasis on behavioral health and physical health coordination — there remains fragmentation across the care continuum. A new patient triage model from Birmingham, Ala.-based Pathway Healthcare and Watershed Health aims to ease the transition from hospitalization and emergency services to outpatient care, Stephen Taylor, MD, chief medical officer of Pathway Healthcare, told Becker’s. Pathway offers behavioral health and substance use disorder care through therapy, psychiatry and medication management across Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Watershed Health is a care coordination platform that helps manage the post-acute care process.

The model transitions individuals from an inpatient setting — whether they have received mental healthcare or substance use disorder care — to outpatient services, including connecting them to a therapist through telehealth. Therapists conduct initial virtual meetings to offer a warm welcome and help patients transition into various levels of outpatient care. Many individuals hesitate to seek mental health or substance use disorder treatment because the treatment system itself has historically been unwelcoming, judgmental and not patient centered, Dr. Taylor said. “What this does is make a tremendous improvement in the likelihood that that person — once they’re discharged — is going to follow up,” he said. “Because now they’ve made a connection to an individual. They’ve seen a face, they’ve seen a person. That person is welcoming. It’s just a whole lot less anxiety provoking to think of having left that inpatient setting to now go to this other place to get treatment.”

The period immediately following hospital discharge is a critical window for connecting patients with continued care, Dr. Taylor said. Traditional follow-up methods — such as providing patients with contact information on a slip of paper — can further contribute to fragmented care.  “By doing this warm handoff, we communicate with the patient in a very real way, without necessarily saying it, but instead with them simply experiencing it,” Dr. Taylor said. “’We welcome you with open arms. We are here for you. We don’t judge you. We don’t look down on you.’”Privacy and confidentiality of patients’ data are top priorities, he said. When Pathway makes contact with outpatient or inpatient providers to hand off patients, it obtains informed consent from them. This streamlines communication and referral processes, enabling a smoother transition to other treatment settings, Dr. Taylor said.  Clinicians will also be trained on the evidence-based American Society of Addiction Medicine Criteria — a set of standards for placement, continued service and transfer of patients with addiction and co-occurring conditions. “This gives us yet another opportunity to help people understand you have an illness,” Dr. Taylor said. “This is a chronic medical illness and we want to provide the kind of care that makes sense. That does not involve judgment or stigma or shame and gives you ongoing treatment for what we know is a chronic condition.”