December 14, 2022

Please see below Statement.  If you don’t already follow us on Twitter, please do!  @nyscouncil

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: | Lauri Cole | lauri@nyscouncil.org | 518. 461. 8200

Advocates express extreme disappointment in Governor Hochul’s veto of OMIG Reform legislation; Call for Immediate Action to address Crippling Medicaid Audits

Albany, NY – The New York State Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare (The NYS Council), the Coalition of Medication-Assisted Treatment Providers and Advocates (COMPA) and Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State (CP State) are extremely disappointed that Governor Hochul has vetoed A7889A – a bill that would have infused fairness and balance into
what is currently an unfair and unusually aggressive approach to conducting Medicaid audits here in New York.

We understand that OMIG is required to carry out its’ federal and state obligations to oversee the NYS Medicaid Program.  However, we will continue to strenuously object to OMIGs’ audit practices that include aggressive tactics that punish providers and that have brought down entire agencies that did not engage in any type of Medicaid fraud and abuse.

Close to 50 membership associations and coalitions, that represent thousands of Medicaid providers across the care continuum, actively supported the bill.  The Governor’s veto sends a message to these essential providers that they will remain susceptible to unfair audit practices that are employed by OMIG in order to return savings to the state budget each year.

We call on Governor Hochul to quickly convene a meeting of Medicaid provider organization representatives to discuss the ongoing problems that we tried to address through this legislation, and to develop an action plan to address the serious, ongoing issues faced by Medicaid providers which threaten access to needed care and provider viability in communities across the State.