It’s been a little over a year since New York City shut down all non-essential activities and we all felt the anxiety, uncertainty and fear that was the hallmark of the COVID-19 pandemic’s early days. Amidst an unprecedented public health crisis and an ensuing social upheaval, Housing Works, our community and supporters and our many allies across the state found ourselves in one of the hardest advocacy battles we’ve ever fought.

The passage of last year’s New York State budget outlined a plan to carve Medicaid pharmacy out of managed care, eliminating our ability to collect 340(b) revenue. Since their inception in 1990, these funds have been an essential part of what makes Housing Works and community health centers across the state able to offer comprehensive community health care including programs like The Undectables, incentives, meals, mental health support, transportation and COVID-19 vaccinations, just to name a few. Adding insult to injury, the Governor retained the right to withhold 20% of all state social service and health contracts.

But, with a 30+ year history of relentless advocacy and all of you behind us, though everyone in power told us that the pharmacy carve out was a done deal, we decided we were going to fight. And we did, joined by dozens of other organizations who made a pact to fight to the end to kill this plan and retain 340(b) revenue, the Save NY's Safety Net coalition. The more the State leadership ignored us, the more determined we became.

The pandemic forced us to get creative, so we created both in-person and virtual demonstrations to get Governor Cuomo’s attention, from virtual town halls and press conferences to car caravans and socially distanced street protests. Thanks to the support of our healing community, hundreds of calls, texts and letters were sent to the Governor and other elected representatives. Our staff and clients spoke out and spoke to the press, we launched social media campaigns, and worked tirelessly to preserve these life-saving funds for all community health centers in New York State.

This year’s State Budget, passed in early April, tells the story of our collective efforts. The Senate, led by Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and cheered on by Senate Health Chair Gustavo Rivera, completely rejected the carve-out. The Assembly put forward a compromise and then tried to cut a deal with the Governor, and we fought back with every tool at our disposal.

Thanks to this truly communal and relentless advocacy, implementation of the carve out was postponed for two years. We are confident, in that time, we will be able to get rid of the carve-out altogether, and we look forward to sharing that next victory with you.