Assembly and Senate staff are finishing their one-house budgets, which will lay out their spending priorities. (GNYHA will update members on key provisions in the proposals after their release.) The Legislature will then form conference committees on specific subject areas and negotiate with the Executive Chamber on a final deal.
Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal includes Medicaid rate relief (it repeals last year’s 1.5% Medicaid cut and increases rates by a further 1%), safety net hospital funding, $1.6 billion in capital funding, major health care workforce investments, and telehealth payment parity legislation. GNYHA is advocating for further increases in Medicaid rates—particularly for inpatient and outpatient mental health services—and more support for safety net hospitals.
While GNYHA opposes proposed changes to 1) New York’s surprise billing law that would give for-profit insurance companies an advantage in negotiations with hospitals and 2) restructuring the Excess Medical Malpractice Pool, the 30-day amendments significantly improve the Excess Medical Malpractice Pool legislation. More information on the Executive budget and GNYHA’s positions is available in our side-by-side table.
Legislative leaders have said they will assert their institutional prerogatives under a new Governor by rejecting budget provisions that do not have a monetary impact. The deadline for an on-time budget is April 1, the start of the new fiscal year.