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In Brief:
- Licensed creative arts therapists treat anxiety, trauma and depression
- Medicaid covers services but commercial insurers do not
- NY Senate and Assembly passed a bill requiring coverage
- Gov. Hochul’s signature is the final step to enact the law
At START Creative Arts Therapy Services, we sit with New Yorkers in their hardest moments. We provide individual and family therapy, we support schools and we bring programming into communities. We see children paralyzed by anxiety, teens crushed by depression, families reeling from trauma. And every day, we see how creative arts therapy helps them heal.
Yet commercial health insurers still refuse to cover our services. That is not a minor oversight. It is a broken system. Licensed creative arts therapists—LCATs—are the second-largest group of mental health providers in New York. We hold graduate degrees, pass national exams and meet rigorous state licensure standards. Medicaid recognizes us. Research backs us. Families depend on us. But insurers block access.
That means families are forced to pay out of pocket or go without care altogether. Imagine explaining to a parent that their child finally found a safe way to express trauma through art, music, or movement, but their insurance will not cover it. At START, we live that conversation too often. It is unacceptable.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has a bill on her desk that would change this. The Senate and Assembly already passed legislation requiring commercial insurers to cover outpatient care by licensed creative arts therapists. The fix is ready. All that is left is her signature.
Untreated mental health is expensive. Hospitalizations, ER visits, lost workdays, and school disruptions cost families and the state far more than outpatient care ever will. Creative arts therapy is preventative, cost effective and evidence based. At START, we see that every single day.
This is not a question of whether creative arts therapy works. We know it does. The only question is whether New Yorkers will finally be allowed to access it through their commercial health insurance.
START is doing the work. We will keep showing up for individuals, families, schools and communities. But it is past time for insurers to step up. And it is past time for the governor to lead.
Gov. Hochul, please sign the bill. Families cannot wait any longer.
Dina Palma is the owner and operator of START: Creative Arts Therapy Services, PLLC, a West Islip-based creative arts therapy group practice supporting New Yorkers.
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