the recent publicity about the Bush administration’s plans to change the way the federal government pays for Medicad got me wondering what the states think of the program.
We know that Florida is struggling with a $1 billion increase in Medicaid costs this year.
Another big state has problems that make FL’s situation look positively sunny be comparison. (free subscription required) Medicaid in NY is now consuming 44% of the state budget. That’s $44 billion, and has resulted in calls for significant cuts in the program, accompanied by increased taxes on health care providers including hospitals.
The New York Times reports:
“The cuts, if they go through, will cause a ripple effect. Since the state’s contribution to Medicaid generates matching contributions from the federal government and New York localities, a $1 billion cut in state financing could mean a decrease of at least $3 billion in overall Medicaid spending across the state, according to health care analysts. Hospital trade groups predicted that cuts on that scale would stun the health care industry, a major sector in the state’s economy, and perhaps lead to cuts in service or even hospital closings.”
NY is somewhat unique in that it requires local governments to partially fund their portion of Medicaid. This complicates Gov. Pataki’s (R) mission, as he has also promised to cap Medicaid funding increases for local government at the general rate of inflation.
Couple that promise with the Bush Administration’s pending changes and the political power of health care employee unions and you have the makings of a very unpleasant budget battle.
We’ll look at other states in future posts – here’s hoping there’s some good news amongst the bad.
Jan
18
