HPA News

Statement by Eric Linzer, HPA President and CEO

“While we appreciate that the Governor, Assembly and Senate included $50 million in funding for the Medicaid Quality Incentive (QI) Program in the FY26 state budget, in the face of federal efforts to cut Medicaid and eliminate funding on health-related social needs program, we had urged fully funding the program at $300 million in state funds. The QI Program has been essential to improving the quality of care for the state’s most vulnerable residents, supporting a broad range of innovative partnerships among health plans, providers and community organizations that are at the core of addressing health disparities in underserved communities. Protecting those initiatives and the residents they serve requires investment and we will continue working with state leaders to codify the program in statute so that it is fully funded in future years.

“The failure to exclude Medicaid from the state’s Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process is a missed opportunity to address the spending growth in the program. It was a sensible proposal that would have prevented high-price providers from continuing to charge excessive rates when treating Medicaid patients by exploiting a loophole in the law. Given the potential for federal health care cuts, this proposal should be revisited this session.”