News & Info for NYS Council Members – 6/23/2025

June 23, 2025

TAKE NOTE

On Tuesday, the health panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will be the latest congressional panel to hear the case for Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget, which calls for a cut of more than a quarter in funding for the Department of Health and Human Services starting Oct. 1. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify. 

You can view the hearing live at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) here:  https://energycommerce.house.gov/events/health-subcommittee-hearing-the-fiscal-year-2026-department-of-health-and-human-services-budget

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ADVOCACY OPPORTUNITY
As you know, the Senate Majority is attempting to move forward this week with finalizing its own version of a budget reconciliation bill and taking it to the floor before this coming weekend for a debate and vote.  It is by no means certain that their plan will play out the way they want, but these leaders are trying to jam the process forward nonetheless.  We all should assume the worst, and hope and work for the better/best.

In advance of the bill moving to the floor, Senator Schumer along with some members of New York’s congressional delegation will be holding a special online briefing about this matter this Wed. eve June 25 @ 8 pm.  All are invited to attend – there are separate RSVPs for unions and their members, and for all other groups and their members and the general public

Other groups who specialize on various issues are also collecting stories about SNAP/Food Stamps, housing, public education, green energy, etc. etc., so reach out to them.

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RESOURCE 

June 23, 2025, 

The Commonwealth Foundation
 

Deep federal cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), proposed in the reconciliation bill moving through Congress, could trigger widespread job losses and fiscal strain in every state, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. 

The report, How Medicaid and SNAP Cutbacks in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Would Trigger Big and Bigger Job Losses Across States, provides a state-by-state analysis of the potential economic fallout of the House-passed bill. In 2029 alone, it’s projected that: 

  • 1.2 million jobs could be lost, including nearly 500,000 in health care.
  • States’ combined gross domestic products (GDPs) could fall by $154 billion — about 18 percent more than the federal government would save from the cuts.
  • State and local tax revenues could decline by $12.2 billion. 

The report finds that states with higher poverty rates — where Medicaid and SNAP enrollment tends to be greater — would experience especially steep losses. 
Read the report

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NEWS 

Kennedy and Medicare and Medicaid head Dr. Oz make health insurance announcement

Jun 23, 2025 11:11 AM, AP Newswire

Earlier today a number of executive branch officials including CMS Director Dr. Memet Oz and HHS Administrator Robert Kennedy hosted a joint press conference.  See below for information regarding the Presser.  Also note the article (below the first item) that may have come up during the press conference.  More to follow on this:

A group of Democratic House members demanded Trump administration officials on Monday to stop sharing data of Medicaid enrollees – including their immigration status – with the Department of Homeland Security.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz will hold a news briefing at 2:45 p.m. ET. 

The request came in a letter sent by eight lawmakers to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The letter was sent in response to an Associated Press report this month that detailed how deportation officials had obtained the sensitive data over the objections of career health officials.

The data could assist federal agents in finding migrants. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, were among those who signed the letter. It follows a letter sent last week by Democratic senators to Kennedy and other Trump appointees.

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And from the ‘taking with a grain of salt’ department……

About 50 insurers, including the nation’s largest health plans, have pledged to reform prior authorization, a major source of patient and provider frustration, by reducing its use, improving transparency, and modernizing the process. Key goals include fewer services requiring prior auth by 2026, 80% of electronic requests completed in real time by 2027, and clearer, patient-friendly denial explanations. The commitment spans commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid managed care plans, potentially benefiting 257 million Americans. Insurers also promised to honor prior authorizations during plan transitions and have decisions reviewed by medical professionals. Progress will be tracked and publicly reported. (Articles here, here, and here)

And from the Axios article (highlighted in yellow directly above at the end) comes this excerpt:

Flash back: Major trade associations for health insurers, physicians, hospitals and pharmacists released a consensus statement in 2018 on improving prior authorization, but patient and provider concerns have persisted.

  • Congress last year considered — but ultimately did not pass — legislation that would have overhauled prior authorization in Medicare Advantage. And the Biden administration issued rules to make insurers streamline requests to cover treatments.
  • Several insurers have announced their own plans to scale back their prior authorization requirements over the past couple of years.