May 27, 2026
For Immediate Release
State Budget Mixed Bag for Patients and New York’s Healthcare System
Statement Attributable to:
Mark J. Adams, MD, MBA
President, Medical Society of the State of New York
“The agreed-upon State Budget is a mixed bag for our patients and New York’s healthcare system. Importantly, it takes a number of positive steps, including greater transparency of excessive and burdensome health insurance prior authorization requirements that impact our patients’ ability to receive the care they need, ensures for another year full coverage for New York’s Excess Medical Malpractice Insurance program to help mitigate New York’s outrageous liability cost burden for physicians, continues funding for the essential services provided by the Committee for Physicians’ Health, and continues fair insurer payment for delivering healthcare services via telehealth.
“However, we are very concerned about the impact to our state’s hospital emergency departments due to the significant changes to the dispute resolution mechanism that will make it extremely difficult to challenge pervasive health insurer underpayments that could very well deter many specialist physicians from being available on-call to provide immediately needed care to patients. Moreover, we are disappointed that the final package designed to increase physician participation in the Workers’ Compensation system did not include meaningful provisions to address carrier delays in payments for care to injured workers that are the REAL reason physicians are deterred from participating in Workers Comp.
“We look forward to our continued discussions with policymakers to address challenges faced by our patients in obtaining needed care across the State, including finding solutions to address the litany of practice challenges that causes New York to continue to be ranked as one of the worst states in the country to be a physician.”
# # #
Founded in 1807, the Medical Society of the State of New York is the state’s principal non-profit professional organization for physicians, residents, and medical students of all specialties. Its mission is to represent the interests of patients and physicians to assure quality healthcare services for all.
Media Contact:
Roseann Raia | Manager, Communications
Medical Society of the State of New York
865 Merrick Avenue
Westbury, NY 11590
516.488.6100 x302 | [email protected]
Julie Vecchione
Vice President, Communications
Medical Society of the State of New York
865 Merrick Avenue
Westbury, NY 11590
516.488.6100 x340 | [email protected]
Share
Despite widely publicized promises made last summer by more than 60 health insurers — including UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, […]
-
As the Legislature and Governor finalize the 2026–27 State Budget, it is imperative that they take decisive action to preserve patient access to skilled […]
-
Frank Dowling, MD (They/Them/Theirs) was elected Assistant Treasurer of the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) on April 13. A graduate of […]
-
It is outrageous that Anthem/Elevance is planning to penalize hospitals with steep financial penalties unless every single physician associated with that hospital is in the plan’s network […]
