Alliance Alert: The Alliance is joining the New York State Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare and other state groups in calling for additional coverage parity that would ensure New York’s children, youth and families with commercial insurance are guaranteed access to the same range of mental health and/or substance use disorder services that are currently available to Medicaid beneficiaries. We encourage other providers and associations to sign on to the NYS Council’s letter to the governor in support of needed changes. The deadline to sign the letter is Tuesday, November 12 at 12pm! See below for more information.
Use this link to sign on to the letter: Sign the Letter
The Facts
• In NYS in 2023, 11.7% of youth with private insurance had insurance that did not cover mental or emotional problems, ranking it 41st among other states (https://mhanational.org/sites/default/files/2023-State-of-Mental-Health-in-America-Report.pdf)
• In NYS in 2023, 53% of youth with major depression did not receive mental health services in the past year (https://mhanational.org/sites/default/files/2023-State-of-Mental-Health-in-America-Report.pdf)
• In NYS in 2023, 11% of youth are experiencing severe major depression and 16% of youth had at least one major depressive episode in the last year (https://mhanational.org/sites/default/files/2023-State-of-Mental-Health-in-America-Report.pdf)
Last year, Governor Hochul and the NYS Legislature made history by enacting a new law that ensures in-network, community-based mental health and substance use disorder provider agencies, licensed by OMH and/or OASAS, are reimbursed by commercial insurers at rates comparable to those paid by the NYS Medicaid Program for the same services. While the new law opens the front door to care for thousands of New Yorkers with commercial insurance who have struggled to find a community provider that can afford to provide it, the new law does not also address mental health and substance use disorder coverage disparities that currently exist between Medicaid and commercial insurance benefits packages. For example, two important services currently available to children, youth and families with Medicaid coverage – Children and Families Treatment Support Services (CFTSS) and Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) services – are not readily available to families with commercial insurance. HCBS and CFTSS offer a flexible array of services such as therapy, rehabilitation services, and family and youth peer support within a child’s home and community.
Use this link to sign on to the letter: Sign the Letter
**We are accepting endorsements from statewide or regional membership associations and advocacy coalitions as well as individual provider organizations that want to join the fight to ensure ALL of New York’s children, youth and families can secure the services they need and deserve.
If you have questions about this advocacy campaign please reach out to Lauri Cole at the NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare at: lauri@nyscouncil.org. If you have questions about the Survey Monkey sign-on process please contact Cindy Levernois at the NYS Council: cindy@nyscouncil.org
Thank you in advance for supporting this important advocacy campaign!