Updates & Analysis

On August 29th, the New York State (NYS) Office of Mental Health (OMH) released a Request for Applications (RFA) for the fourth round of the OMH Community Mental Health Loan Repayment Program (OMH CMHLRP). This program supports licensed community mental health programs with the recruitment and retention of mental health professionals in underserved or health…

In this update:  Legislative Update CBO Answers Congressional Questions on Changes in Spending ProjectionsOn August 22nd, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a document continuing answers to Congressional questions on changes in its spending projections. Among the issues CBO addressed were changes in projections of health care spending. In particular, CBO was asked about the…

In this update:  Federal Agencies CMS Releases State NOFO for the CGT Access ModelOn August 15th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the release of the State Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Access Model. The CGT Access Model aims to test a “CMS-led approach to…

In this update:  NYS and NYC Opportunities OMH Issues RFA for the Expansion of HealthySteps Sites StatewideOn August 13th, the New York State (NYS) Office of Mental Health (OMH) issued a Request for Applications (RFA) for the development of up to 50 new HealthySteps sites statewide within pediatric and family medicine practices. HealthySteps is an…

On August 15th, Governor Hochul announced the selection of the three Workforce Investment Organizations (WIOs) that will administer a total of $646 million in funding for workforce training program. This initiative, the Career Pathways Training (CPT) program, is one component of the New York Health Equity Reform (NYHER) 1115 Medicaid waiver amendment which was approved…

In this update:  Federal Opportunities SAMHSA Issues NOFO for HIV and Substance Use Prevention Among Racial/Ethnic Minority CommunitiesOn July 29th, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the 2024 Syndemic Approach to Preventing HIV and Substance Use Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities program. Through…

In this update:  Federal Agencies ARPA-H Announces POSEIDON ProgramOn August 1st, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced the Platform Optimizing SynBio for Early Intervention and Detection in Oncology (POSEIDON) program. This program aims to develop novel at-home synthetic Multi-Cancer-Early Detection (MCED) tests for stage I detection of 30+ solid tumors. These over-the-counter…

In this update: Legislative Update Joint Economic Committee Publishes Report on Private Equity in Health CareOn July 23rd, the Senate Joint Economic Committee (JEC) published a report on the role of private equity (PE) in health care delivery. In 2021, approximately 1 million health care workers were employed by companies owned by PE firms. While…

On August 7th, Governor Hochul announced the nine organizations selected to create new, regionally-based Social Care Networks (SCN) under the State’s New York Health Equity Reform (NYHER) 1115 Waiver. SCNs will be responsible for coordinating the delivery of social care services to Medicaid members, including by providing Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) screening and maintaining a…

This week, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) announced that it is currently accepting Letters of Interest (LOIs) for funding under the Safety Net Transformation Program. This program, enacted under Part S of the Health and Mental Hygiene bill in the 2024-25 Enacted New York State Budget, is designed to offer a single…

In this update:  Federal Agencies CMMI Updates AHEAD Hospital Global Budget MethodologyOn July 24th, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) held a second webinar on the AHEAD program, which will enable participating states to implement hospital global budgets (HGBs) in Medicare fee-for-service and across other payers. The webinar provided updates on the methodology…

In this update:  Federal Agencies CMS Releases First No Surprises Act AuditOn July 15th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its first audit of billing practices under the No Surprises Act. The audit reviewed air ambulance claims to Aetna Health of Texas from January to June 2022. It found that Aetna failed…