SLATER, HARCKHAM URGE STATE TO TAKE ACTION ON OPTUM HEALTHCARE CUTS

State Sen. Pete Harckham and Asm. Matt Slater outside the now closed Optum multispecialty medical office in Somers.

Assemblyman Matt Slater and New York State Senator Pete Harckham recently urged the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to take immediate action in response to Optum’s decision to drop coverage for several low-cost health plans and close local medical facilities. 

In a letter to Health Commissioner James McDonald and New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow, Harckham and Slater stressed that eliminating multiple plans—including Individual Exchange options such as Fidelis / Wellcare and Cigna / HealthSpring—will directly harm low-income residents, Medicare Advantage enrollees and Medicaid patients.

The two legislators also warned that closing Optum’s multi-specialty medical office in Somers will force patients, many of them older adults or individuals with complex medical needs, to travel farther for care. This action, they said, will disrupt a continuity of care and contradict the convenience and accessibility Optum pledged when it first acquired these practices.

“Let’s call it what it is—absurd. Shuttering sites and dropping coverage does nothing to make local healthcare more affordable or accessible,” said Slater. “In fact, it does the opposite. Real people’s lives are being affected by these decisions, and we’re doing everything we can to protect patients from the lack of transparency and ensure continuity of care.”

“Forcing people to travel farther and pay more for essential care, especially as the cost of living continues to soar, is unacceptable,” said Harckham. “We should be working together to protect patients and ensure they receive the care they need, not creating barriers to care.”

Slater and Harckham noted that discontinuing coverage for certain plans effectively pushes residents toward competing plans offered by UHG, Optum’s parent company—further concentrating market power, reducing competition and accelerating consolidation in the healthcare industry.

Slater and Harckham urged the agencies to take three specific actions:

• Conduct a review to determine whether excluding competing exchange plans presents a conflict of interest for Optum and UHG.

• Adopt regulations requiring advance notice to patients, lawmakers, local governments and the public—along with opportunities for community input—before major clinic closures occur.

• Assess the impact of Optum’s network reductions and facility closures on healthcare access and affordability in the Hudson Valley.

Concerns about access to affordable care have grown following the passage of the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) encompassing the federal budget, which is expected to reduce healthcare funding in New York by an estimated $13.5 billion annually due to Medicaid cuts. Additionally, the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits is projected to cost New York’s healthcare system another $213 million, further straining communities already grappling with reduced coverage options.