It’s that time of year again!  It’s time to strap on our advocacy hats and hunker down for a new budget season.  Will there be trips to Albany?  Email alerts?  Phone calls to legislators?  You bet!  So, how do we think the budget will impact people with disabilities?

First, we look to the State of the State.  This year, the Governor’s priorities are small business, infrastructure, women’s rights, and gun control.  Strategies for gun control have a direct impact on people with disabilities because there is a national pattern of inaccurately characterizing people with mental health disabilities as perpetrators of violence.  We watched this happen after the recent tragedy in Webster, NY.  The Governor shared his vision for an aggressive seven-point gun control initiative that includes a measure to “keep guns from people who are mentally ill.”  Unfortunately, the legislature has tied negotiations around gun control reform to forced outpatient treatment, which is a violation of civil liberties; not to mention a dangerous steep slope toward institutionalization.   This, by far, was the most prominent issue in the State of the State pertaining to people with disabilities and we expect a lot of advocacy around this during session.

It is also important to review what was not said.  One thing that was notably absent from the speech was Medicaid.  There were references to the State’s Medicaid Redesign efforts, but no new targeting of Medicaid.  Clearly there is a little relief here, but it is also important to note that the State has been going through a significant Medicaid reform over the past two years and this work is very much ongoing.  Another topic that was absent from the speech was Olmstead.  You may remember that in last year’s State of the State, the Governor explicitly referenced Olmstead and the State’s intention to develop an Olmstead Plan.  This too is ongoing and the Governor has selected Roger Bearden, former Chair of the CQC to be the Executive’s Special Council on Olmstead.  Mr. Bearden is tasked with finalizing the Olmstead Plan.

Second, we look to the “buzz.”  If you have been tracking the process of the State’s Medicaid proposals to the federal government, then you know that no decisions have been made, leaving everything still on the table.  Through Medicaid redesign, the State has saved the federal government $17B and is requesting to reinvest $10B back into NYS through a “super waiver.” Many positive initiatives are folded in, including a statewide, independent advocacy program for seniors and people with disabilities who will soon be in Medicaid Managed Care.  However, NYS is grappling with a significant Federal government overpayment issue within many of its agencies so this has stalled negotiations on the super waiver.  We expect that many of these initiatives, particularly those relating to managed care, will appear in some form in the Executive Budget but with the super waiver in flux everything is very much up on the air.

View CDR’s response to the State of the State here.