Alliance Alert: The State must fix New York’s broken Medicaid behavioral health system. In just weeks, Governor Hochul will release her SFY 2027 Executive Budget and this is a critical moment to demand real reform.
More than a decade ago, mental health and substance use disorder services were moved into Medicaid managed care. Since then, New Yorkers have been left with a system that is inefficient, restrictive, and harmful. Managed care has created long waiting lists, delayed or denied payments to providers delivering lifesaving services, and siphoned scarce public dollars to insurance plan middlemen who add no value to care delivery.
The results are clear:
- Communities across New York face severe access barriers to mental health and addiction services
- Providers are struggling to stay afloat and retain staff due to delayed and denied reimbursements
- State agencies have issued over 300 citations against managed care plans
- The State Attorney General found widespread use of false or “ghost” provider networks, misleading people seeking care
Enough is enough.
New York State can save an estimated $400 million per year by carving out OMH and OASAS outpatient, rehabilitation, and residential services from Medicaid managed care and returning billing to fee-for-service. This change would immediately expand access by ensuring Medicaid members are not limited to providers contracted with their specific insurance plan and would get resources back to the community providers doing the work.
The Alliance for Rights and Recovery strongly supports this reform and is calling on members, providers, peers, families, and advocates to take action now.
Click below to send a letter to Governor Hochul today using the Advocacy Action System
Advocacy Action Center – NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
New Yorkers cannot wait any longer for a system that actually works. We urge Governor Hochul to include a Medicaid Managed Care carve-out of mental health and substance use services in her SFY 2027 Executive Budget. We will continue pushing until this critical reform is achieved.
Take action. Share widely. Let’s fix this system together.