PULSE 2/21/2025: Physician Advocacy Continues on Key State Budget Priorities; New Issue Arises on CPH in 30-Day Amendments

MSSNY physician leaders and advocacy staff continue to advocate to the State Senate and Assembly on the numerous proposals impacting medical care delivery in Executive Budget proposal for the 2025-26 Fiscal Year.

Last week, MSSNY Immediate Past-President Paul Pipia, MD, testified Joint Legislative Public Hearing on the 2025 Executive Budget Proposal at a joint Senate-Assembly hearing examining the Healthcare portion of the Governor’s Executive Budget.

This week, the Governor proposed a series of amendments to her initial Budget submission (“30-day amendments”).  Of significant concern, as part of an initiative to transfer the registration of physicians and PAs from the Education Department to the Health Department, there is a proposal that would appear to eliminate the $30 component of the $600 physician biennial registration that is earmarked specifically for MSSNY’s Committee for Physicians Health (CPH) program.  No explanation is provided for this proposed change.  MSSNY strongly opposes this change and is urging the Legislature to reject this transfer of registration authority.

In addition, MSSNY Continues to Strongly Oppose:

• Requiring physicians to pay 50% of the Excess Medical Malpractice Insurance cost – a $40,000,000 imposition on the 16,000 physicians with Excess coverage, which would be on top of the already outrageously high medical liability insurance premiums they already pay. Please send a letter opposing this measure here: Reject Physician Cost-Share for Excess Insurance Program
• Eliminating the right of physicians to appeal Medicaid Managed Care underpayments to IDR. This provision could further impair the ability of hospitals to maintain already strained on-call specialty care services. Please send a letter opposing this measure here: Retain Physicians’ Right to Use Independent Dispute Resolution Process in Medicaid Managed Care Claims
• Eliminating the historical role of county medical societies in vetting physicians to participate in the Workers’ Compensation (WC) program. This proposal does not meaningfully address the reasons physicians refrain from participation in WC and could result in some situations where an injured worker’s claim is impeded due to lack of sufficient knowledge of the often-cumbersome WC process. Please send a letter opposing this measure here: Preserve Role of County Medical Societies in Workers’ Compensation Application Process
• Eliminating the requirement for physician supervision of the healthcare services provided by Physician Assistants (PAs) despite legislation enacted last year (and not even effective until mid-February) to significantly expand the responsibilities of PAs. Please send a letter opposing this measure here: Preserve Physician-led, Team-based Healthcare
• Permitting psychiatric NPs to certify involuntary commitment of patients.
• Permitting pharmacists to prescribe and order medications to treat nicotine dependence.
• Increasing prior authorization burdens in Medicaid by eliminating “prescriber prevails” protections in Medicaid.

MSSNY Supports:

• $990,000 Funding for MSSNY’s Committee for Physicians Health (CPH) program allocated in the Aid to Localities Budget.
• Funding to help increase woefully inadequate Medicaid physician reimbursement.
• Addressing the unworkable provider financial consent requirement enacted last year (currently “on hold”) that consent for payment from the patient be received after services are delivered.
• Directing DOH to undertake a comprehensive review of New York’s outdated health plan network adequacy standards.

The problematic initiatives included in this Budget proposal is another critical reason for physicians to come to Albany for the Annual Physician Advocacy Day  on March 11 where they will have an opportunity to interact with numerous legislators who will determine what will remain in the State Budget, and what will come out.