Fighting Care Cuts

Member action has helped to shore up vital funding for New York State, but national cuts still threaten these gains.

After months of sustained lobbying in Albany, 1199 members are celebrating agreement over the New York State budget for 2026, which includes a funding increase of $15 billion compared with the previous year.

1199 Members went into budget negotiations facing attacks on Medicaid at the federal level, but intense campaigning within New York State helped to prevent any local cuts to Medicaid and includes new funding that will drive modest improvements for healthcare services.

A new source of state revenue was established to address the rising costs of Medicaid reimbursement. Governor Kathy Hochul accepted the argument made by the Union and its allies that Medicaid managed care plans—the private insurance companies that administer most of the state’s Medicaid programs— should pay tax on their profits. This new Managed Care Organization (MCO) tax is expected to raise $4 billion towards a Healthcare Stability Fund. This vital new funding source, however, is under serious threat from the federal government.

The new money from the MCO tax could provide much-needed funding in most of the areas where 1199ers work. As this edition of the 1199 Magazine was going to press, the MCO was slated to provide $425 million for hospital outpatient services; $445 million for nursing home services; $40 million for clinic services provided by federally qualified health centers and diagnostic and treatment centers; and $15 million for assisted living programs.

Barbara Moody, an RN Delegate at Long Island Jewish Hospital in Forest Hills, Queens, was one of hundreds of 1199ers who made the trip to Albany during budget negotiations to make the case for Medicaid funding.

“As a Case Manager, I see the importance of Medicaid dollars firsthand,” she said. “It is not simply needed for patients who are in the hospital, it is also needed for post-acute care. We cannot send patients home unless there is a care plan in place.”

In many instances, elderly people do not have family members who can look after them, often because they work full-time themselves. In these situations, families rely on Home Health Aides, who are mainly paid for by Medicaid. Most nursing home beds are also paid for by Medicaid.

“A lot of people don’t realize that Medicare does not pay for nursing home care, which in the New York City area can easily cost a family $15,000 a month, if they are not eligible for Medicaid,” Moody added.

The 1199 Case Manager further stressed how important it was to secure state funding for Medicaid because of the threatened cuts at the national level.

“Without Medicaid funding, the situation for many of our seniors would be catastrophic. They would literally have nowhere to go when they left the hospital,” she said.

The NYS budget also includes $30 million for a new capital program for nursing homes and restores the $500 million Vital Access Provider Assistance Program (VAPAP) cut hospitals faced in the previous year’s budget.

Shauntel Hinkson, an 1199 Delegate and Specialty Lab Technologist at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, also traveled to Albany to press lawmakers to close funding gaps in healthcare.

“With everything that is going on in the world,” she said, “we have to make our voices heard to make sure that our elected officials know who they represent. Everyone needs Medicaid at some point in their life. It is not only there for people on a low-income. Without Medicaid, many of our major New York hospitals could not operate.”

Hinkson is mother to a 15-year-old son who requires speech and occupational therapy.

“These things are provided to him through Medicaid,” she added. “I feel very happy about the New York State budget outcome. But it is still a big fight to make sure that everyone receives the care they deserve in the rest of the country.”