Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday shared a breakdown of the Trump administration’s sweeping federal cuts to New York State’s health programs, and how these cuts to health funding will affect New Yorkers. According to the Governor’s Office, the amount of funding lost will have a devastating impact statewide on programs that ensure the safety and well-being of people in New York, gutting over $360 million in financial resources toward mental health and addiction services, and health departments across the State.
“Slashing funding for public health, suicide prevention and addiction services is just plain cruel, and it’s going to hurt everyday New Yorkers most,” Governor Hochul said. “Here’s the sad truth: there is no State in the nation that has the resources to backfill these sweeping cuts. It’s up to New York’s elected officials who serve in the House majority to stand up and fight back.”
This information was released by the Governor’s Office regarding the cuts:
Federal Cuts by the Numbers:
Department of Health
DOH expects to lose over $300 million in funding for organizations across the State.
- This funding supports many activities that are core to public health functioning, including virus surveillance, outbreak response, electronic data exchange, public dashboards, infection prevention activities in hospitals and nursing homes, laboratory reporting, program operations, and support to local health departments. The backbone of the State’s public health infrastructure will be weakened significantly due to reduced virus surveillance and reporting systems that can no longer provide communities and families with real-time information on developing outbreaks, laboratory support and testing, data collection and analysis, public-facing dashboards, data and analytics.
- Losing this funding will shutter multiple areas of work that are largely seen as foundational components of the Department’s response to emerging infectious diseases. These cuts will also eliminate the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant, which funded 135 subcontractors to support community-based work addressing health disparities in New York, such as mental health, maternal and infant health, and food security.
Office of Addiction Services and Supports
OASAS expects to lose $40 million total in funding, which will result in significant cuts to addiction and prevention services, treatment supports and access to resources for individuals struggling with substance use. This work includes, but is not limited to:
- Transitional housing to help provide short-term housing and case management for individuals leaving OASAS residential treatment or correctional facilities who cannot otherwise access permanent housing.
- Support for programs, access to treatment, recovery, and other basic services that keep people connected to care in their communities.
- Expansion of outpatient clinics to offer medication for addiction treatment and to purchase and outfit mobile medication units to bring services where they are needed.
- Administering and implementing Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) which is a comprehensive public health approach to identify those at risk of developing substance use disorders and deliver early intervention and treatment services to individuals who exhibit habits of risky use of alcohol and other substances.
Office of Mental Health
OMH expects to lose $27 million total in funding for programs and services for individuals experiencing mental health and/or substance use needs. These programs were intended to allow individuals in need of care to remain in their homes, connected to their natural support systems during treatment. The loss of this funding will result in an increased reliance on emergency services and hospital-based care with fewer community resources and supports for our most vulnerable New Yorkers, including:
- Crisis Stabilization and Crisis Residence Programs to provide urgent treatment to individuals experiencing an acute mental health and/or substance use crisis, and a safe place for the stabilization of psychiatric symptoms and support for children and adults.
- Adult Assertive Community Treatment Teams (ACT) serving individuals with serious mental illness who are in danger of losing their housing/becoming homeless, are homeless, and/or have histories of involvement with the criminal justice system, and Children and Youth Assertive Community Treatment Teams (ACT) for youth who are returning home from inpatient settings or residential services, at risk of entering such settings, or have not adequately engaged or responded to treatment in more traditional community-based services.
- Grants to expand and improve upon the mobile crisis services statewide, including 9-8-8 crisis call centers. These call centers have relied on this funding to ensure they have capacity to connect callers experiencing emotional distress to the compassionate care of trained counselors.
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