Department of Health outlines several one-time FY25 requests including $4 million contingency for treatment facilities

Department of Health officials presented multiple one-time appropriations and transfers included in the governor’s fiscal 2025 budget adjustment materials.

Commissioner Mark Levine said the department requests a $150,000 increase in general funds for a legislatively directed household health insurance survey; the department said the final cost of that contract will be $550,000. Levine described a $500,000 one-time transfer for community grants related to health equity; the department said this is not new money but a shift of previously appropriated one-time funds from the Office of Health Equity (administration) to the Health Department, which will administer the grants.

Levine also described a $4,000,000 general fund request for "contingent sustainability grants to mental health and substance use residential treatment facilities." He said the contingency funding would provide time-limited financial assistance as part of an organizational stability plan for providers facing financial instability, or alternatively to secure services from other providers if needed. Levine noted that Secretary Samuelson had addressed this request earlier in the day.

Committee members raised broader concerns about the financial stability of provider networks and asked whether the funding is intended as extraordinary relief for vulnerable providers, noting the state’s uncertain revenue picture for the next fiscal year. The department described the request as targeted, intended to be applied where providers show vulnerability, and not an across-the-board bailout; Levine said some providers are vulnerable while others are operating normally. The requests were presented to the committee for consideration as part of budget adjustment language and would require legislative action to appropriate funds.