New York State Budget Updates:
T H I S C O L U M N H A S a lways been a great place
for legislative updates, and Jerry Hoffman would
want me to spend some time on our current legisla-
tive environment.
I reached out to several healthcare leaders and
asked what's keeping them up at night for the next
budget year. My sense is their annual list of concerns
is lengthened due to the large gap created in the budget
between state and federal funding for Medicaid care
in New York state.
Clinicians often engage with the state budget
due to malpractice and insurance reforms. While
important, issues that impact the environments in
which their patients receive care and in which they
practice are equally important.
The American Medical Association, which primar-
ily advocates for clinicians, notes its key areas of
advocacy as public health, access to care, patent
reform, reduction in administrative burdens and
judicial advocacy for physicians and patients. They
recommend clinicians use their voices as leaders
in their communities. Patients denied access to
care, par ticularly underser ved communities in
poverty, see higher rates of chronic illness and lower
life expectancies.
This coming year changes to reimbursement and
funding to Medicaid programs may threaten critical
community-based services and bills to mandate
staffing levels threaten many healthcare providers.
The nationa l debate swirls around the future
structure of access and coverage.
In the meantime, providers must help patients
every day. Those patients are often struggling with
insurance costs, medication costs and access to
specialty care.
We all see the impact of drug abuse and addic-
tion among young people and we need to advocate
for increased funding for access to treatment and
community care.
Pay attention during the next few months and
use your voice and your professional associations to
raise concerns about these reductions and changes
to funding for critical services. Talk to legislators,
email their offices and let your voice be heard.
You can reach out to Kathryn Ruscitto on LinkedIn or
via email at krusct@gmail.com.
n
Informational
Resources
+ Medical Society of the
State of New York:
mssny.org
+ HANYS: hanys.org
+ Iroquois Healthcare
Association: iroquois.org
+ AMA: AMA-assn.org
+ AHA: aha.org
Health Care Impacts
BY K ATHRYN RUSCITTO
M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C E N T R A l N E W Y O R K
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