Breaking: Hochul Announces the ‘Parameter of a Conceptual’
State Budget Agreement…Many Details Pending
By Alliance Policy Director Luke Sikinyi and CEO Harvey Rosenthal
NYS Governor Kathy Hochul announced “the parameter of a conceptual agreement” on a $237 billion state budget late Monday afternoon and said she expects it to pass this week. The Times Union reported that “It’s not a final budget deal…since the Democrats who control the Legislature still have to give it the green light.”
But the Governor said that she believes that they are all on the same basic page and has announced a framework for this year’s budget agreement that includes some of the details provided below.
3.2% Flexible COLA: Governor Hochul did not mention whether the budget includes a flexible 3.2% Cost of living adjustment for human services agencies and their workforce. We believe that the terms of a COLA are still being negotiated and will continue to work alongside our colleagues to advocate for the inclusion of this critically needed flexible enhanced funding! At the same time, the budget boosts state worker pensions!
Mental Health
- Daniel’s Law: It is still unclear whether pilot funding for Daniel’s Law First Responders was included in the budget. Advocates will continue to push for a pilot that sends out mental health and EMT First Responders to engage and support New Yorkers experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.
- Criminal Justice initiatives: The Governor’s release references $31 million to “expand mental health services for first responders (we need more details here, given our focus on the Daniels Law pilot) and “for individuals with mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system” (we expect that this will include an expansion of mental health courts for which we’ve been advocating).
- a $7 million allocation for compliance efforts associated with new regulations “that require hospitals to get people with mental illness into follow-up care more swiftly after discharge.” We are very strongly concerned about the impact of the new regs’ requirements that requires all individuals seeking inpatient psychiatric treatment be screened as to whether they are potentially violent, a very damaging view that gives into public fears that have been fanned by tabloids and involuntary treatment advocates that view our community as a dangerous threat to public safety.
- $55 million to establish 200 new inpatient psychiatric beds at State-run facilities: We have strongly objected to the push to increase the use of very costly and unnecessary state run inpatient beds instead of using these funds to grow proven programs that engage and support at risk individuals in the community.
- $19 Million mental health supports for school-aged children
- Strengthening of Mental Health Parity protections that will require that individuals seeking mental health treatment get appointments within ten days even if it is out of network.
- We are looking to see if funding was allocated for a community hospital peer bridger pilot and additional INSET programs.
Medicaid/Healthcare
- Home Care: Despite fervent opposition from our friends in the disability community, the Governor is moving the management of the consumer-directed personal assistance program from independent living centers to a single statewide entity, a move that advocates and stakeholders strongly fear will jeopardize the state’s ability to provide appropriate, high quality personalized local care for thousands of older New Yorkers and people with disabilities.
- As we await word on the fate of our COLA, “Interim” Rates Hikes for Hospitals and Nursing Homes have been proposed based on the hope that the federal government will greenlight a potential tax on managed care organizations to access additional federal funding.
- The Governor’s release references “maintaining our $3.9 billion commitment to support distressed hospitals and $20 billion multi-year investment to build new healthcare infrastructure, expand Medicare coverage for seniors and pregnant New Yorkers and increase the home care worker minimum wage.”
- The Governor is also counting an additional $7.5 billion in the health care system over the next three years through an amendment to New York’s Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstration program “to support a comprehensive series of actions to advance health equity, reduce health disparities, and strengthen access to primary and behavioral health care across the state.”
Next week’s our Executive Seminar will feature 2 special keynote presentations that will provide the latest details about the waiver from
- Trisha Schell-Guy, DOH’s Director of the Division of Program Development and Management and Lauren Tobias, Senior Advisor, Brown & Weinraub Government Relations & Strategic Consulting and
- national consultant and former NYS Medicaid Director Jason Helgerson.
See updated registration details tomorrow morning! More details of the budget will emerge as the Governor and state legislators continue negotiations through the night and into tomorrow on a number of unresolved issues. We will continue to advocate down at the Capital for what we know our members need and deserve! Stay tuned!