January 24, 2023

Following is a copy of the NYS Council 2022 End of Year letter we sent to all members in late November and then again on December 14.  Along with the letter, we also sent our 2023 Dues Worksheet and 2023 Dues Invoice (linked).

For 2023, NYS Council dues are due by February 15.  Many thanks to those agencies that have already sent us your dues.  For those still working on it, please let us know if we can be of assistance to you.  Feel free to contact Lauri at 518 461-8200 or Cindy at:  cindy@nyscouncil.org at your convenience.

Thank you!
Have a great day.

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Good afternoon,

It’s been a challenging but also very productive year for the NYS Council.  We hope we have exceeded your expectations, and that you continue to find your membership with our association to be a smart investment.  We value all of our members, and we want you to know how much we respect and value the work you and your staff perform each day.

The NYS Council can be proud of our many accomplishments in 2022.  These include (but are not limited to):

• The NYS Council successfully advocated for the return of $222M in overpayments made to BH MCOs over a two year period, to OASAS and OMH.  The state is required to recoup overpayments made to MCOs that fail to meet Behavioral Health Expenditure Targets (BHETs) – a metric in place to ensure plans spend the vast majority of funds they receive from the state, on actual care for Medicaid beneficiaries.  The 20+ FOILS we filed along with our persistent advocacy revealed that the state had not enforced this provision, resulting in windfalls for some MCOs.  We pressed hard to compel state leaders to enforce this contract provision, and this resulted in sizable overpayments being returned to the state agencies.   In turn, the state agencies used these additional funds to boost rate increases and state contracts for mental health and substance use disorder providers.
• We secured budget language that requires the state to post information on the DoH Website regarding enforcement of BHETs going forward.  The state must show the amounts collected from plans, the methodology used to calculate how much is to be returned to OMH and OASAS, and which plans did not meet the required targets;
• Along with our ‘Billing Geeks”, we brought a complaint to the state that resulted in a directive to health plans that they must reimburse up to the APG rate for services to BH clients who are default enrolled;
• We secured $249,000 in ‘gap funding’ thanks to the assistance of Senator Schumer, for 29 CCBHC Expansion Grant awardees that were running out of / aran out of funds as of their April 30 award expiration date.  Awardees were faced with a 5 month gap in funding until the next round of Expansion Grant awards were announced;
• We secured an agreement from OMH to provide up to $500k in emergency funds for this same group of Expansion Grant agencies, to help them bridge the award funding gap.  
• We successfully advocated for a 5.4% COLA plus significant rate increases across a wide range of NYS Council member agency programs and services. 
• We advocated for increases for OMH hospital-based inpatient psych programs who ultimately received significant rate increases for the first time in over 20 years, effective April 1;
• We advocated for increased FMAP funds and secured increases for OASAS Part 820 Programs through Medicaid managed care.
• We provided two important member trainings – one for prescribers, and the other for billers, coders and revenue cycle management staff regarding recently enacted federal changes to CPT and E/M Codes;
• We provided training to NYS Council members on federal Antitrust Laws and the implications for BH providers;
• The NYS Council co-led a coalition of associations representing a broad group of healthcare providers from across the service delivery system that has worked together to compel the Governor to sign our OMIG Reform bill (awaiting enactment).   We also await enactment of our Model Contract Transparency bill that will require the state to inform stakeholders of changes it is making to the contact that governs the carve in of our services to Medicaid managed care 
• We hosted weekly meetings for our ‘Billing Geeks’ group.  The meetings are designed to assist billers, coders, revenue cycle management staff and others whose job responsibilities are increasingly complex.  We offer support, information, technical assistance and training to these key staff; 
• We hosted weekly Thursday morning ‘NYS Council Member Support and Policy Updates for all members where we discuss federal, state and local issues impacting our members on a variety of issues of import to mental health and substance use disorder provider organizations.
• We are also very excited to announce that last month the NYS Council retained the services of Health Management Associates (HMA) to conduct a financial analysis of the benefits associated with NYS expanding the CCBHC Demo Program.  The results from the analysis are excellent.  Stand by for more information. 

As you review the attached documents, please remember that a membership with the NYS Council offers you the opportunity to ‘opt in’ and pay just a fraction of the regular cost of a membership for your agency with the National Council for Mental Wellbeing (formerly the National Council for Behavioral Health).   Ordinarily, a membership with the National Council would cost your agency over $4,700 but as member of the NYS Council you will pay just $675 for that same benefit in 2023.

Note: The NYS Council has not raised our dues in over a decade.  The only dues increase you will experience iin 2023 is related to an increase in the amount you pay for your National Council membership.

Finally, if there are ways we can improve our services, I hope you will reach out to me at your convenience. If you would prefer to contact our Board President Lisa Hoeschele, she can be reached at:  lhoeschele@fcscortland.org

Many thanks for your ongoing support of the NYS Council.  We value your participation and wish you a very happy holiday season.