Governor Cuomo's response to New York's big Medicaid deficit, as laid out in his budget presentation on Tuesday, was a disappointing mix of delay, deflection and delegation. Read More
Latest Work
In 2020, the biggest headache facing Albany will be Medicaid, the state-run health plan that covers more than 6 million lower-income and disabled New Yorkers. As revealed last month, Medicaid is running 16 percent over budget—opening a $4 billion deficit in the state’s current financial plan and contributing disproportionately to a $6.1 billion gap for the fiscal year that begins April 1. Read More
In the coming skirmish over how to close a multi-billion-dollar deficit in the Medicaid program, New Yorkers can expect a lot of misleading claims and half-truths from the health-care industry. A case in point is a Jan. 6 letter signed by 23 provider groups – representing hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, physicians and more – which calls for Governor Cuomo to reverse the 1 percent cut to most Medicaid fees that his administration announced on New Year's Eve. Read More
The cash flow of New York’s Medicaid program has become increasingly volatile in recent years, a byproduct of questionable fiscal maneuvers that spawned the current $4 billion deficit. Read More
The ball in Times Square isn't the only thing dropping on New Year's Eve: The state Health Department also announced a 1 percent reduction in most Medicaid payments. Read More
Instead of properly managing Medicaid, the state’s biggest and most important program, Cuomo subverted his own reforms, whitewashed official reports, withheld information from the Legislature and the public, flouted his constitutional duties and, worst of all, secretly delayed $1.7 billion in payments from one fiscal year to the next. Read More
Governor Cuomo says that controlling the cost of prescription drugs will be part of his agenda in 2020. Four bills currently awaiting his signature or veto give him a chance to get started on that promise in 2019. Read More
The Cuomo administration recently revealed that New York’s Medicaid program is running over budget by an astonishing 16 percent, or $4 billion, even though enrollment is flat and medical inflation is at historic lows. This seemingly out-of-nowhere spending spike has triggered the Empire State’s worst fiscal crisis since the Great Recession. It raises an awkward question for fans of single-payer health care in Albany: If state government can’t properly manage the fraction of the health-care system it already controls, why should it be trusted to take over the whole thing? Read More