Getting help in New York.

New York has one rule that matters more than anything else on this page, and it is one sentence long.

That is the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports stating it plainly on its own site. If a program is OASAS funded and you have no money, that is not a reason they can refuse you.

Numbers that work right now

• New York State HOPEline, 1-877-846-7369 (1-877-8-HOPENY). 24/7, staffed by clinicians, toll free. OASAS states all services are available regardless of ability to pay.
• Text HOPENY to 467369 if you would rather not talk.
• 988 if you are in crisis right now.

Coverage

New York does not brand its Medicaid program with a separate name, it is just Medicaid, enrolled through NY State of Health. New York expanded Medicaid in 2014 and substance use treatment is covered.

The thing almost nobody tells you

Before you rely on any of the protections below, ask your HR department one question: is our health plan fully insured, or self funded? Write the answer down.

Here is why it matters. State insurance laws only reach plans the state regulates. If your employer self funds its plan, which most large employers do, the plan is governed by federal ERISA law instead and the state rules simply do not apply to you. New York's own Department of Financial Services says it flatly: if your employer self funds, "New York protections don't apply."

Your insurance card will usually look identical either way, because a normal insurance company often administers the plan. The card does not tell you. HR does.

New York's protections, if your plan is state regulated

• No preauthorization for substance use treatment at any in-network facility licensed or certified by OASAS.
• No medical necessity review during the first 28 days of inpatient treatment, as long as the facility notifies your insurer of the admission and treatment plan within two business days.
• No review during the first four weeks of outpatient, up to 28 visits, same condition.
• No prior authorization for substance use medications, including buprenorphine, methadone, injectable naltrexone, and overdose reversal medication.
• No copay or coinsurance at all for in-network opioid treatment programs. Zero. And only one copay for everything delivered in a single day at a facility.
• No annual or lifetime limits on treatment.
• Peer support must be covered when it is part of an OASAS authorized outpatient program.

Two newer things worth knowing

Appointment access rules took effect July 1, 2025. Plans must get you an initial outpatient behavioral health appointment within 10 business days, or within 7 calendar days after a hospital discharge. If no in-network provider can do that, the plan has to let you see an out-of-network provider at in-network cost. That is a real, usable right, and it exists specifically because ghost networks were a problem.

Essential Plan changed on July 1, 2026. Roughly 450,000 New Yorkers moved off the Essential Plan onto Qualified Health Plans, which means premiums and deductibles where there were none. People under 200% of the federal poverty level kept Essential Plan coverage. If your coverage changed this summer and you are in or entering treatment, that is worth sorting out before it becomes a billing problem.

Finding a program

OASAS runs a provider directory searchable by program type and distance, and oversees more than 1,700 programs statewide including 12 state run addiction treatment centers. CHAMP, the Community Health Access to Addiction and Mental Healthcare Project, is New York's navigation and ombudsman program if you get a claim denied and need help fighting it.

And then

Getting in the door is the start. What happens after is what we are here for. Message us and a real person who has been where you are will get back to you. Nobody pays us and we have nothing to sell.