May 6, 2025

SCOPE OF PRACTICE AND ACCESS TO CARE

———- Forwarded message ———
From: SWBD <SWBD@nysed.gov>
Date: Tue, May 6, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Subject: Advisory Notices for Recent News and Alerts

Dear Lauri,

(Regents meeting this morning update)

Please see the link below as this will be helpful getting the news out to your members and exam takers. The alert effective today states:

Regulatory Amendments approved and effective May 6, 2025

 The New York State Board of Regents approved emergency regulatory amendments in social work that are effective May 6, 2025. These regulatory amendments conform New York State’s social work licensure examination requirements with national standards set by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) by permitting English as a second language (ESL) testing accommodation. 

For a detailed view of the regulatory amendments, see the Regents’ website at https://www.regents.nysed.gov/sites/regents/files/525ppca1.pdf.

Below is a summary of the regulatory changes:

ESL testing accommodations are now permitted, and in accordance with ASWB standards such accommodations include:

1. Providing ESL candidates with additional time (up to two extra hours); and
2. Allowing ESL candidates to use up to two dictionaries, one bilingual word-to-word translation dictionary and/or one general English dictionary.

 Here is the link to the alert mentioned above:

https://www.op.nysed.gov/regulatory-amendments-approved-and-effective-may-6-2025

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Unless there is objection from NYS Council members, we will vigorously support the new legislation (see box directly below and info below that).  Note:  This new bill still needs a Senate sponsor on ‘same as’ legislation.

We are also supporting another bill we told you about recently that pushes the date by which practitioners need to obtain the Diagnostic Privilege from 2026 to 2027 (A8045 – Bronson, S7622 Brouk) in order to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans.

STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8183 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

IN ASSEMBLY

May 5, 2025

___________

Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON — read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requirements for certain mental health practitioners to be issued privilege to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

1 Section 1. Paragraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision 1 of section 8401-a
2 of the education law, as added by chapter 230 of the laws of 2022, are
3 amended and a new paragraph (f) is added to read as follows:
4 (d) Experience: [(i)] Have completed at least two thousand hours of
5 supervised, direct client contact that shall include, but not be limited
6 to, diagnosis, psychotherapy and the development of assessment-based
7 treatment plans, as defined in section eighty-four hundred one of this
8 article, satisfactory to the department.
9 [(ii) Subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall not apply to a mental
10 health counselor, marriage and family therapist, or psychoanalyst who
11 was licensed prior to June twenty-fourth, two thousand twenty-four, and
12 who provides attestation, on a form prescribed by the department, from a
13 supervisor in a facility setting or other supervised setting approved by
14 the department under supervision in accordance with the commissioner’s
15 regulations, that such licensee has at least three years of experience
16 engaged in direct client contact that shall include diagnosis, psychoth-
17 erapy and the development of assessment-based treatment plans. Such
18 licensee shall submit an application to the department within three
19 years of the effective date of this section.]
20 (e) Fee: Pay a fee of one hundred [seventy-five] dollars for issuance
21 of a privilege to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans.
22 (f) Alternate requirements for certain practitioners. Notwithstanding
23 paragraphs (c) and (d) of this subdivision, a mental health counselor,
24 marriage and family therapist, or psychoanalyst licensed prior to June

EXPLANATION–Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11683-01-5 A. 8183 2

1 twenty-fourth, two thousand twenty-seven, shall be granted the privilege
2 to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans if such mental
3 health counselor, marriage and family therapist, or psychoanalyst:
4 (i) files an application with the department;
5 (ii) is licensed and registered as a mental health counselor, marriage
6 and family therapist, or psychoanalyst, and:
7 (1) provides verification of twelve credit hours of clinical course-
8 work as defined by the department from a college or university accepta-
9 ble to the department;
10 (2) provides verification of a minimum of two years of employment as a
11 licensed mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist, or
12 psychoanalyst by a licensed supervisor or colleague on forms acceptable
13 to the department, in a program or service operated, regulated, funded,
14 or approved by the department of mental hygiene, the office of children
15 and family services, the office of temporary and disability assistance,
16 the department of corrections and community supervision, the state
17 office for the aging, the department of health, or a local governmental
18 unit as such term is defined by section 41.03 of the mental hygiene law,
19 or a social services district as defined by section sixty-one of the
20 social services law; or
21 (3) provides verification of being licensed as a mental health counse-
22 lor, marriage and family therapist, or psychoanalyst for a minimum of
23 two years, and:
24 (A) provides documentation of at least six credit hours of clinical
25 coursework as defined by the department from a college or university
26 acceptable to the department; or
27 (B) provides documentation of at least twelve hours of continuing
28 education in clinical coursework subject to section eighty-four hundred
29 twelve-a of this article; and
30 (iii) pays the fee as required under paragraph (e) of this subdivi-
31 sion.
32 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)

BILL NUMBER: A8183

SPONSOR: Bronson

TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the education law, in relation to requirements for certain mental health practitioners to be issued privilege to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans

PURPOSE: The purpose of this bill is to make it easier for certain mental health practitioners to be issued privilege to diagnose ensuring more practitioners remain in the field to meet the mental health needs across the state.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 changes the requirements to obtaining privilege to diagnose and lowers the fee for issuance of said privilege. Section 2 sets the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION: In 2022, a bill was signed into law granting certain Licensed Mental Health Practitioners (LMHPs) – Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, and Psychoanalysts – the ability to obtain a privilege to diagnose. It was enacted into law as Chapter 230 as a way to increase the mental health workforce to better meet the demand for mental health services across New York State, particularly in underserved communities. However, based upon feedback from LMHPs, training programs, students enrolled in training programs, graduates working toward licensure, and community agencies that employ LMHPs, the DP law has failed to accom- plish its purposes. As the law is currently implemented, the unnecessary and burdensome educational and experience requirements for LMHPs to obtain the DP do nothing to protect the public from harm while prevent- ing the most experienced LMHPs from obtaining the DP. This bill provides solutions to the issues to make entering the field, and retaining workers in the field, more accessible and efficient.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.

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Twenty state attorneys general are suing the Trump administration and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., claiming a mass reorganization of the agency—eliminating offices, cutting 10,000 jobs, and slashing public health programs—violates federal law and the Constitution. The lawsuit argues these actions bypass Congress and endanger services like Medicaid eligibility, mental health care, and disease tracking. A related suit by unions and major cities echoes these concerns, citing unlawful overreach of executive power. Critics warn of severe consequences, and polling shows most Americans, including many Republicans, oppose the cuts and support reinstating essential programs. (Articles here and here)
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Federal Budget Reconciliation:  Update, 5/6

1) Please see attached screenshot for a look at the impact of the President’s FFY26 proposed discretionary budget proposals.  Remember:  It’s just a jumping off point.

2) GOP House leaders continue to insist that the Floor vote on the budget reconciliation bill is on track to happen before Memorial Day recess. . . though Speaker Johnson sounds less sure than last week, before he moved the mark-up deadlines. Committees will meet today, but only the Republican members will gather (Agriculture, Ways and Means, Energy & Commerce) since they don’t have agreement even among their own party about the cuts. Johnson will meet with Moderate Republicans this afternoon to discuss their concerns over deep cuts which are proving to be harder to swallow than anyone predicted. It’s additionally complicated because even if the House Moderates end up backing big structural changes, those changes may not ultimately be acceptable to the Senate. And, there’s still the tricky business of tax proposals like the SALT (State and Local Tax) provision that caps state and local tax write-offs at $10K. Many people in areas with high property tax want to let the cap expire or to lift it beyond the current $10K. Needless to say. . . lots to work through and the longer it takes Republicans, the better for the rest of us who want to preserve healthcare and other basic needs.

Today, Modern Healthcare is reporting in the article directly below that the GOP Chair of the House Energy and Commerce committee’s Health subcommittee made the comments (in yellow highlight) to an advocacy conclave of more than 1,000 hospital and primary care stakeholders during an  American Hospital Association event in D.C. this morning:

“House Republicans may miss their self-imposed deadline to advance legislation that extends tax cuts from President Donald Trump’s first term and takes up to $880 billion out of Medicaid, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-La.) said at the American Hospital Association annual membership meeting in Washington on Tuesday.

Carter, who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, said lawmakers are not on track to finish the sweeping bill before Memorial Day as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) intended. The House is scheduled to recess from May 26-June 2.

“We’re going to be hard-pressed to make a Memorial Day deadline. But I’m very confident, first of all, we’re going to get this done, secondly, that we’re going to get it done in a timely fashion, certainly we’re going to get it done before July 4,” Carter said.

Trump and the Republican congressional majority are attempting swift action on the president’s top legislative priority, which is reviving or extending $5.3 trillion in tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The GOP is also eyeing $1.5 trillion in budget cuts.

The Energy and Commerce Committee is tasked with identifying up to $880 billion in healthcare spending to eliminate, the bulk of which would have to come from Medicaid because Trump directed Congress to leave Medicare untouched. The panel planned to convene this week to begin writing the bill but pushed that back to next week.

Those Medicaid cuts have proved difficult for the GOP so far. The most conservative House members insist on deep reductions in federal support for the program while swing district Republicans have expressed concern about the impact on providers and enrollees, while still supporting decreasing funding and leaving states to make up the difference or remove beneficiaries. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), for example, has said health programs cuts should be capped at $500 billion.

Congressional GOP leaders met with Trump at the White House last Thursday and new business that arose will slow down the process, Carter said. Specifically, the Trump administration proposed additional tax cuts for House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) to consider, Carter said.

“We were supposed to mark it up this week, but we decided if we got another week to incorporate some of their suggestions and some of their ideas and what they wanted to see us achieve at the White House, so an extra week is not going to hurt us,” Carter said.

Carter sought to assuage the hospital leaders at the AHA conference despite the industry’s concerns that significant reductions in Medicaid funding will cause severe financial harm to health systems. “I understand the Medicaid program and how important it is,” he said.

Republicans have repeatedly vowed that waste, fraud and abuse are their main targets while also teeing up a plan to eliminate the enhanced federal funding that finances 90% of the cost of the Medicaid expansion from the Affordable Care Act of 2010, which covers more than 20 million adults without disabilities in 40 states and the District of Columbia.

“Medicaid is for the most vulnerable in our society. It was intended for the aged, the blind and disabled, for mothers, for children. And we need to make sure that it stays [to] that focus,” Carter said. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz made similar comments at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles on Monday, Bloomberg News reported.

Democratic lawmakers who spoke at the AHA event urged hospital executives to press Republicans on the consequences of Medicaid cuts.

“Don’t overhype the threat, but you don’t under-hype it, either,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.). “That’s what I’m asking, for leaders in the room, is be vocal. You don’t have to start a fight, but be clear about the threats to your industry, to the community that you’re serving.”

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack closed the conference by emphasizing that preserving Medicaid is the top message to deliver to lawmakers as association members head to visits on Capitol Hill.

“First, no harmful cuts to Medicaid. As a practical matter at this moment in time, given what’s taking place on Capitol Hill, we need to really focus on that message,” Pollack said. “This is the lane we are in right now, and we need to deal with it.”

(Axios, 5/6)

Punchbowl News: Energy and Commerce

Republicans on the high-profile committee still don’t have agreement on how to reach $880 billion in spending cuts mandated under reconciliation instructions, most of which likely have to come from Medicaid.  Many of the GOP moderates fighting deep Medicaid cuts are drawing red lines — vowing not to back per capita caps or federal match rate changes for the expansion population. Without enacting at least one of those changes, it’s challenging for the panel to reach $880 billion.

There’s also the very real possibility that even if House Republicans back those Medicaid cuts, the Senate may not. So the moderates could end up walking the plank on a politically toxic vote only to see the Senate Republicans change the bill anyway.  The White House also complicated matters. The Trump administration wants more input on work requirements and drug pricing provisions. The meeting today and Wednesday will be crucial for GOP lawmakers to find consensus.

Energy and Commerce. Republicans on the high-profile committee still don’t have agreement on how to reach $880 billion in spending cuts mandated under reconciliation instructions, most of which likely have to come from Medicaid.

Many of the GOP moderates fighting deep Medicaid cuts are drawing red lines — vowing not to back per capita caps or federal match rate changes for the expansion population. Without enacting at least one of those changes, it’s challenging for the panel to reach $880 billion.

There’s also the very real possibility that even if House Republicans back those Medicaid cuts, the Senate may not. So the moderates could end up walking the plank on a politically toxic vote only to see the Senate Republicans change the bill anyway.

The White House also complicated matters. The Trump administration wants more input on work requirements and drug pricing provisions. The meeting today and Wednesday will be crucial for GOP lawmakers to find consensus.

See this useful KFF brief that includes state estimates to learn more about the per-capita-cap proposal–it’s a structural change that would turn Medicaid from an open-ended funding program into a capped funding program:  KFF: A Medicaid Per Capita Cap: State by State Estimates

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