Advocacy groups demand state restore cut public health funds to NYC

A group of 80 public health advocacy groups, community health centers and other organizations recently sent a letter to state leaders demanding that they support legislation that would restore public health funding in New York City to levels comparable to other parts of the state. 

Under Article 6 of the state Public Health Law, the state picks up part of the tab to help municipalities pay for public health services. Until 2019, the state picked up the tab for 36% of the cost of core public health services for every municipality in the state. But in the 2019 state budget, New York City’s reimbursement rate was reduced from 36% to 20%, while all other municipalities continued to be reimbursed at 36% – leaving the city with a higher cost share than anywhere else in the state. 

With the threat of federal cuts looming, the letter signatories argue that it’s more urgent than ever before to restore the funding to New York City. “Failure to adequately invest in public health infrastructure could have far-reaching consequences for the state, including increased morbidity and mortality rates, higher healthcare costs, and a decreased quality of life for New Yorkers,” the letter reads. Advocates say that the 2019 cuts have cost the city $90 million each year, with negative impacts on the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s ability to deliver and expand certain services. 

The letter signatories include the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, Community Service Society of New York, Housing Works, Campaign for New York Health, New York State Association of County Health Officials, United Hospital Fund, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York and Make the Road NY. The letter was sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who are currently negotiating this year’s final state budget – which could restore the cuts.

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, chair of the state Senate Health Committee, and Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas are the sponsors of the legislation that would reverse the 2019 funding cuts. “As Washington nears potential spending cuts to Medicaid and SNAP we must do everything we can to protect New Yorkers,” González-Rojas said in a statement. Rivera told City & State that the 2019 cut “was a terrible and irresponsible decision” and that the state “must do everything in its power to protect our patients and providers” in the face of potential federal cuts. 

Though the letter does not explicitly mention former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, some lawmakers and advocates have blamed him for the cuts to New York City’s reimbursement rate. The ex-governor – who resigned in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations that he continues to deny and is now running for mayor of New York City – angered public health advocates in 2019 by pushing through the cuts. The cuts were part of the 2019 budget, the first one negotiated since Democrats regained control of both legislative chambers in 2018. A spokesperson for the former governor recently defended his decision to include the cuts, while also pointing out that the spending document is negotiated between the governor and the Legislature.

Restoring the cut funding has widespread support from city officials. The City Council last month passed a resolution in support of the legislation, with additional memoranda of support from Mayor Eric Adams’ office, Health + Hospitals CEO and President Mitchell Katz and city Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against Cuomo for mayor. And while Hochul herself has not weighed in on the prospect, state Health Commissioner James McDonald told lawmakers at a recent budget hearing that his New York City counterpart talks often with him about the impacts of the cuts. “I wasn’t here when what was done was done, and I can’t imagine why it was done that way,” he said. “But it is odd that that’s what we’re living in, because it’s really the very definition of disparity, isn’t it?”

Read the full letter below: