Sweeping federal cuts to state health grants will have a major impact on New York’s ability to track infectious diseases and provide treatment for people with mental health and substance use issues, according to a funding breakdown from Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The state stands to lose more than $360 million as a result of the Trump administration’s decision to cancel more than $12 billion in federal health grants, Hochul said in a statement Friday. The funds were allocated during the pandemic through COVID relief bills, which the Trump administration says are no longer needed.
New York will lose $27 million for the state Office of Mental Health, $40 million for the Office of Addiction Services and Supports and $300 million for the state Department of Health, which will affect disease surveillance work across the state, Hochul said.
“Slashing funding for public health, suicide prevention and addiction services is just plain cruel, and it's going to hurt everyday New Yorkers most,” Hochul said in the statement. “Here's the sad truth: There is no State in the nation that has the resources to backfill these sweeping cuts. It's up to New York's elected officials who serve in the House [Republican] majority to stand up and fight back.”
U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrats who represent New York, called on the Trump administration to reverse the cuts Thursday.
“Stopping the spread of measles is not government waste,” Schumer said. “Cutting off funding for addiction recovery programs in the middle of a fentanyl crisis and slashing mental health support is just plain cruel.”
The Trump administration has argued that COVID is no longer a concern, and thus the public health funding that was tied to COVID is no longer needed.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," Andrew Nixon, communications director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement to NBC, which first reported the cuts.
"HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again," Nixon said.
The cuts to the state Department of Health will impact a wide range of services that are “core to public health functioning,” according to Hochul’s breakdown. That includes responding to disease outbreaks, infection prevention efforts in hospitals and nursing homes and support to local health departments.
Among the funding being cut is a COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that supported 135 organizations across the state to address disparities in mental health, maternal and infant health and food security, Hochul said.
Within the realm of behavioral health, the federal grant money went toward expanding capacity for 988, the crisis and suicide hotline. It also supported transitional housing for people leaving residential treatment facilities, outpatient addiction treatment and Assertive Community Treatment teams, which do outreach to people with serious mental illnesses and provide them with treatment and help getting into housing.
The cuts come as Hochul and the legislature are finalizing the state budget, which is due April 1. Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether she will consider supplementing some of the lost federal dollars with state funds.
