Alliance Note: As the New York State works to improve the public healthcare system, Governor Hochul has created a commission to assess our current system and offer formal recommendations to improve our services. The commission will take on the difficult task of reducing the state’s Medicaid spending while increasing access to services and improving health outcomes for New Yorkers.
While the state has members who are considered experts in healthcare delivery from within the state and throughout the nation, it will be critical for them to center all decisions around how it affects the average health care service recipient in the state. New Yorkers cannot be shortchanged needed health services as the state looks to reduce costs. NYS must continue to reduce the disparities in access to appropriate, culturally sensitive services, as well as disparities in overall health outcomes for lower income households and communities of color. See below for more information.
Exclusive: Hochul Launches Commission to Advise on Health Care Costs and Delivery
By Amanda D’Ambrosio | Crain’s New York Business | November 2, 2023
Gov. Kathy Hochul will launch a new advisory body today to guide state officials on improving New York’s health care system following the governor’s multi-billion dollar health investments in the state budget.
The New York State Commission on the Future of Health Care, which consists of 13 governor-appointed health care experts from New York and across the country, will be tasked with addressing the state’s pressing health care challenges, including financial sustainability, gaps in access to care and health equity. The commission, whose launch was shared first with Crain’s, will have its inaugural meeting Thursday afternoon.
The advisory board will submit formal recommendations to the state each year on health policy, regulations and reimbursement structures. The board’s focus will include devising a plan for struggling hospitals and making adjustments to the Medicaid program, according to the administration.
Hochul launched the commission almost a year after she first announced it. The governor committed to creating the Commission on the Future of Health Care in her State of the State address in January to advise on the administration’s $20 billion, multi-year investment in the health care system.
The governor has since tasked the commission with controlling soaring Medicaid costs in the state. In a September press conference in Albany, Hochul said that the commission was built of national Medicaid experts who could make recommendations about the health program—a top cost driver for the state.
“This is a transitional moment for the health care system,” Hochul said in a statement Thursday. “Patient preferences are shifting, new technologies are emerging, and we are still feeling the ripple effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Hochul added she assembled the commission “to help us build a resilient health care system that leads the nation and delivers every New Yorker the care they deserve.”
Dr. Sherry Glied, dean of the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, will serve as chair of the commission. Glied also served as the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the federal Department of Health and Human Services under President Obama.
The advisory board members include Dr. Toyin Ajayi, CEO and co-founder of Cityblock, Dr. Joseph Betancourt, president of the Commonwealth Fund, Robert Connor, senior advisor of the private equity firm Warburg Pincus, Lloyd Dean, former chief executive of CommonSpirit Health, Nancy-Ann DeParle, co-founder and managing partner of Consonance Capital Partners, Dr. Richard Frank, director of the Brookings Schaeffer Initiative on Health Policy, Brett Friedman, health care partner at Ropes & Gray and former New York state Medicaid director, Niyum Gandhi, chief financial officer and treasurer at Mass General Brigham, Dr. Tom Insel, executive chair at Vanna Health, Dr. Ann Kurth, president of the New York Academy of Medicine, Robert Megna, president of the Rockefeller Institute of Government and Pat Wang, CEO of Healthfirst.
The commission will meet bi-monthly and submit formal recommendations to the governor’s office each year. Its first set of recommendations will be due before the end of 2024.