Background

In the proposed Fiscal Year 2024 – 2025 Executive Budget Proposal there is a 4% rate cut for the seven (7) Care Coordination Organization/Health Homes (CCO/HHs), including Care Design NY. As you know, they coordinate the State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) services and help individuals and their families navigate medical, behavioral health, substance use disorder, and other systems of care. Care Design NY has successfully met State requirements and recently achieved a 3-year recertification by OPWDD. If the 4% rate cut is implemented, there will be future long-term implications in the IDD service delivery system for vulnerable New Yorkers.

Talking Points

• The proposed rate cut is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2024.
• This 4% funding reduction is for all seven CCO/HHs. This is a cumulative 17 million dollars, including federal funds, that will be cut from New York’s disability care coordination budget leaving individuals with IDD at high risk. 
• This proposed cut is being done as an “administrative action” and is hidden from the public in the NYS (New York State) budget documentation. No transparency in the Fiscal Year 2024 – 2025 Executive Budget Proposal.
• The impact of these new proposed cuts is alarming and creates significant concerns for the 128,000 individuals with IDD and their families who rely on care management service delivery.  Many individuals with IDD are from underrepresented population segments—people of color, ethnic groups, and immigrants with no services. CCO/HHs are a lifeline for thousands of individuals across the State.
• Should this 4% funding cut to CCO/HH rates be implemented on July 1, 2024, there will be a negative impact on our service delivery with direct impact on individuals and families that depend upon their CCO/HH Care Manager to access services, community resources, and advocacy to ensure their eligibility, rights, and due process are met. A 4% rate cut across the board to all seven CCO/HHs will destabilize the IDD care coordination system.
• A 17-million-dollar reduction in funding will prevent CCO/HHs from planned future investments in the program including investments to improve CCO performance, as well as in competitive compensation and benefit packages for the care management workforce. This would result in a diminishment in the quality-of-care management services that individuals with IDD have today.

What You Can Do:  

Contact your New York State Assembly Member and Senator
(use the search tool below to identify) and tell them: 

• No cuts to any IDD programs. Remove the 4% cut to CCO/HHs proposed in the Executive Budget Proposal and restore CCO/HH funding in your One-House Budget Proposal.
• Enact a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for all IDD programs to counteract inflation measured using the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
• Use the legislator’s phone number, email address, or their contact form to advocate.

For Senators: 

• Go to https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator
• Enter your address. Click “Find My Senator.”
• Click “Message Senator.”
   

For Assembly Members: 

• Go to https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/
• Enter your address. Click “Locate”.
• Click “Visit Assemblymember’s Page.”
• Click “Contact.”