February 5, 2021

Please find written testimony prepared by the NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare for submission to committee members participating in today’s Joint Legislative Budget Committee on Mental Hygiene.  As you will see, we also sent the Committee a copy of the petition we sent you last night, and a copy our June 2020 Telehealth White Paper.

Please note:  I will be testifying at the upcoming Health/Medicaid hearing on 2/25. The rules do not permit a citizen to testify at more than one hearing and so, from time to time, I go to the Health / Medicaid Hearing table where budget proposals including the Governor’s Telehealth proposal, the allocation of resources held in the state’s Healthcare Transformation Fund Account (think $$ from business transactions such as purchase of Fidelis by Centene, etc.), and issues pertaining to the carve in of behavioral health to Medicaid Managed Care are the focus.