Chair Lee opening remarks on FY27 H&H budget
Chair Lee opens the final hearing of the day for NYC Health + Hospitals, joined by Chair Narcisse. She outlines the $1.75B H&H budget, noting increases for Medicaid cash flow, federal reimbursement, COVID-19 costs, correctional health, and savings measures. Headcount was 43,580.
Okay.
All right.
So good afternoon, everyone.
Welcome to the final FY27 budget hearing for today, focusing on New York City health and hospitals.
I'm Councilmember Linda Lee, and I'm proud to be joined by my colleague, Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse, who is the chair of the Committee on Hospitals.
We've been joined by Councilmember, okay, they're in and out, I promise.
Councilmembers Wong, Brewer, Ressler, Aldebal, Brooks-Powers.
I think that's it for now.
So welcome, President, CEO, Dr.
Ketz, and your team, and thank you all for joining us today to answer our questions.
On May 12, 2026, the administration released the executive plan for FY27 to 2030 with a proposed FY27 budget of $124.7 billion.
Health and hospitals.
proposed FY27 budget of $1.75 billion represents.
1.5% of the administration's proposed FY27 budget in the executive plan, and this is an increase of $7.1 million or 0.4% from the $1.74 billion originally budgeted in the FY27 preliminary plan.
This increase results from several actions, mostly involving a Medicaid initiative adjustment to support the system's cash flow, federal reimbursement,
funding for costs incurred during COVID-19 pandemic, increased correctional health services expenses, and an array of new savings measures.
As of FY26 quarter three, health and hospitals headcount was 43,580.
And in the council's preliminary budget response, we called on the mayor to add $3.6 million to H&H to invest in the mental health continuum.
And we also raised concerns regarding Be Heard restructuring, Medicaid restrictions, and state-directed plan.
The state's directive plan.
Although our request was not included in the plan, I look forward to hearing from the director CEO today about your commitment to strengthening H&H's mental health services,
addressing the challenges posed by Be Heard restructuring and Medicaid restrictions, and ensuring these programs remain a reliable source for resource for New Yorkers who rely on them.
And I now want to turn it over to my co-chair for this hearing, Councilmember and Chair Narcisse for her opening statement.