S 3515: Requires the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services to provide contingency management services, including non-cash rewards, for persons with addiction disorders who abstain from substance abuse and comply with treatment objectives.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3515 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 28, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Use Disorders AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law and the social services law, in relation to establishing contingency management services for certain persons with substance use disorders The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 19.03 of the mental hygiene law is amended by 2 adding two new subdivisions 3 and 4 to read as follows: 3 3. "Contingency management services" means addiction disorder 4 services, including prescription and non-prescription digital therapeu- 5 tics overseen by a healthcare professional, for persons with a substance 6 use disorder that provides individuals with non-cash rewards to abstain 7 from substance use, by incentivizing specified behaviors, including, but 8 not limited to continued evidence of negative substance test results, 9 engagement in treatment, and other behavior which adheres to treatment 10 goals. 11 4. "Non-cash rewards" means financial incentives for healthy behavior 12 given to a contingency management services program participant that are 13 not in the form of United States currency, including but not limited to 14 gift cards, reloadable debit cards, vouchers, and other similar elec- 15 tronic or physical mediums that cannot be converted into cash. 16 § 2. Section 19.17 of the mental hygiene law is amended by adding a 17 new subdivision (h) to read as follows: 18 (h) (1) The office shall, in coordination with the department of 19 health and the New York state conference of local mental hygiene direc- 20 tors, establish a program to provide contingency management services, as 21 defined in subdivision three of section 19.03 of this article for 22 persons eligible for medical assistance under title eleven of article EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00293-01-5 
 S. 3515 2 1 five of the social services law for individuals in recovery for 2 substance use disorder. 3 (2) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, non-cash rewards 4 for contingency management services received by an individual pursuant 5 to this subdivision shall not be considered income or resources of an 6 individual for the purposes of any determinations of eligibility for any 7 other state program or benefit, including but not limited to the medical 8 assistance program, any state or federal program, or any other means- 9 tested program or benefit. 10 (3) In developing the program under paragraph one of this subdivision, 11 the office shall: 12 (A) develop a plan to monitor the program for fraud and misuse of 13 contingency management rewards; and 14 (B) establish a delivery mechanism for non-cash rewards with measures 15 designed to prevent program participants from: 16 (I) converting the rewards into U.S. currency (cash); 17 (II) redeeming the rewards for drugs or alcohol; or 18 (III) using or spending the rewards at casinos, gambling/betting 19 services, gun shops, or escort services. 20 (4) In developing the program under paragraph one of this subdivision, 21 the office may: 22 (A) issue guidance on the use of contingency management services for 23 beneficiaries who access substance use disorder services under the 24 medical assistance program; and 25 (B) establish limits on the number, and value, of non-cash rewards 26 available to beneficiaries who receive services pursuant to contingency 27 management services. 28 (5) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, the commissioner, 29 in collaboration with the commissioner of health, shall, to the extent 30 necessary, develop and submit any appropriate waivers for implementation 31 of this program, including, but not limited to, those authorized pursu- 32 ant to sections eleven hundred fifteen and nineteen hundred fifteen of 33 the federal social security act, or successor provisions, and any other 34 waivers necessary to achieve the purposes of high quality, integrated, 35 and cost effective care and integrated financial eligibility policies 36 under the medical assistance program or pursuant to title XVIII of the 37 federal social security act. Copies of such original waiver applications 38 shall be provided to the chair of the senate finance committee and the 39 chair of the assembly ways and means committee simultaneously with their 40 submission to the federal government. 41 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 365-a of the social services law is 42 amended by adding a new paragraph (nn) to read as follows: 43 (nn) contingency management services and supports provided pursuant to 44 article nineteen of the mental hygiene law. 45 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 46 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 47 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 48 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 49 completed on or before such effective date.