LeadingAge NY President and CEO Testifies at State Health Budget Hearing
(Feb. 10, 2026) LeadingAge NY President and CEO Sebrina Barrett testified at the Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Health/Medicaid today, Feb. 10th, calling for increased investment in long-term care (LTC) and aging services.
In her testimony, Barrett highlighted the accelerating closures of nursing homes and other LTC providers, in the context of a growing population of older adults and the rising demand for LTC services. The testimony emphasized that New Yorkers are experiencing a crisis in access to quality LTC, and that the rapid rate of closures has real-world impacts on families, as well as on hospitals and emergency services.
Barrett outlined LeadingAge NY’s budget priorities, which are described more fully in the association’s written testimony, available here.
Legislators attending the hearing expressed interest in LTC issues, including nursing home funding, access to assisted living options, dementia care, aging in place, and LTC workforce issues. Assembly Health Chair Amy Paulin asked questions about the frozen acuity adjustments for nursing home providers, Assembly Health Ranker Josh Jensen raised several questions about nursing home reimbursement and the Executive Budget’s allocations, Assembly Member Jen Lunsford asked about the assisted living options available in the state, and Senator Dan Stec brought up nursing home Medicaid funding gaps and the lack of access to assisted living in the North Country. LeadingAge NY will be following up with legislative committee members who participated in today’s hearing to help address any questions that arose and ensure that they are aware of our membership’s most high-priority budget requests.
A recording of today’s hearing will be posted on the Assembly website here in the coming days. LeadingAge NY’s written budget testimony is available here.
LeadingAge NY members are strongly encouraged to reach out to state legislators to advocate for the budget requests that affect their organizations and the people they serve. Members should share these budget issue briefs with legislative offices via email and/or schedule in-district meetings with state legislators for next week’s February recess, Feb. 16th-20th. Questions about in-district advocacy opportunities may be directed to Sarah Daly (sdaly@leadingageny.org).
Contact: Sarah Daly, sdaly@leadingageny.org