Medicaid UpdatesABA Medicaid UpdateFebruary 12, 2025 Dear NYSABA Members, First, thank you all for taking time to reach out to your legislators about the Governor’s budget cut to Medicaid ABA Services. The Legislature’s review of the Governor’s budget is well underway, and we will need your help several more times over the next month to convince legislators to reject the proposed cut to Medicaid ABA Services by $9.6 million. Yesterday, the Commissioner of Health, James McDonald, testified at the Joint Legislative Health Budget Hearing. When questioned about the cut by Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills, Queens), the Commissioner explained that the Medicaid cut will be achieved by reducing the unlicensed personnel rate to $38.50, resulting in the lowest ABA rate nationwide. Much later in the day, Maureen O’Grady testified on behalf of NYSABA at the same hearing. It enabled her to provide a rebuttal to the Commissioner’s comments earlier in the day. Maureen testified that reducing the rate paid to unlicensed personnel (i.e. behavior technicians) will create an unsustainable situation. She explained to committee members that New York has been utilizing a blended rate for all ABA codes, which helps compensate for the cost of the Licensed Behavior Analyst. The rates will no longer be sustainable if they are uncoupled. Reducing the unlicensed personnel rate to the extent it is the lowest in the country, while simultaneously not increasing the LBA rate, will set up Medicaid ABA programs in New York to fail. Today, we are circulating her oral remarks as well as the full NYSABA testimony to members of the health committee. As all of you know full well, New York was the 49th state to cover ABA under its Medicaid program. We advocated for years to secure Medicaid support for ABA services so that providers would be encouraged to enroll in the New York Medicaid program. Legislators must understand that a cut to the Medicaid program so soon would be a devastating step in the wrong direction.
Friday is the first deadline for legislators to register their budget priorities and concerns with the Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker. After this week, NYSABA will send out additional guidance and advocacy instructions for the upcoming weeks. Also we would encourage everyone to join us in Albany on March 3 and 4. NYSABA will be organizing legislative meetings on March 3 and 4 and conducting a member briefing on Tuesday morning.
Thank you again for your support and efforts to date to defeat this immensely deleterious Medicaid budget cut. Please direct any questions to: [email protected] . Further instructions will be provided in the coming days. We appreciate your partnership on this important issue.
Sincerely, Maureen O’Grady, BCBA, LBA and Deborah Napolitano, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA Public Policy Committee
Links:
NYS CALL TO ACTION!The Governor’s budget reduces Medicaid spending for Applied Behavior Analysis services by $9.6 million. This cut will lead to a direct reduction in life-changing services that support children and adults with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. We need to act quickly to inform the legislature that we reject these cuts! If possible, please send the general letter AND either the provider or parent/caregiver letter. Actionnetwork - Can send a letter through Actionnetwork https://actionnetwork.org/letters/reject-governor-hochuls-proposed-cuts-to-medicaid-aba General Letter for All: Parents and Caregivers: ABA Provider Letter: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/e14acd5580a98adf04d9fb9ed0b6e5c5e862f7d3?source=direct_link&
Medicaid Update: |