New York’s Medicaid and Child Health Plus programs added three-quarters of a million enrollees during the coronavirus pandemic, roughly matching the pace of a national surge in sign-ups.

Between February 2020 and January 2021, the combined rolls of the two health plans grew by 760,000 New Yorkers, the second-largest total in the country, newly updated federal data show.

The state’s growth rate of 13 percent was lower than the national average of 14 percent—in part because New York’s pre-existing enrollment was proportionally high.  At the same time, the increase as a share of the state’s population, at 3.7 percent, was higher than the national average of 3.0 percent.

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

As of January, the two government-sponsored health plans for the low-income and disabled were covering just over one in three New York residents, the fourth-highest fraction in the country.

The nationwide enrollment surge appeared to be primarily driven by the pandemic-induced recession, which threw almost 2 million New Yorkers out of work and decimated the incomes of many more.

Another factor was a slowdown in Medicaid attrition. Before the pandemic, tens of thousands of people per month would drop off New York’s rolls for failing to re-register or otherwise losing eligibility. For the past year, however, states were required to suspend that process as a condition of receiving federal emergency relief. That suspension is expected to continue through at least the end of 2021.

Along with higher enrollment comes higher costs for what is already one of New York’s most expensive programs. This year’s state budget projects that the state share of Medicaid will spike by 22 percent or $5 billion. Total Medicaid spending, including federal aid and local contributions, is expected to increase by 10 percent or $8 billion.

Heading into the pandemic, New York spent more per capita on Medicaid than any other state—roughly double the national average—due to a combination of relatively broad eligibility, extensive benefits and high provider costs.

About the Author

Bill Hammond

As the Empire Center’s senior fellow for health policy, Bill Hammond tracks fast-moving developments in New York’s massive health care industry, with a focus on how decisions made in Albany and Washington affect the well-being of patients, providers, taxpayers and the state’s economy.

Read more by Bill Hammond

You may also like

Federal Staffing Rule Would Compound Hiring Pressure for New York Nursing Homes

Nursing homes that are struggling – and mostly failing – to comply with the state's two-year-old minimum staffing law would face even stiffer hiring challenges under newly proposed federal standards. Read More

What DFS Doesn’t Want To Tell You About Soaring Health Premiums

When the Department of Financial Services made its annual announcement about health insurance price increases last week, it neglected to mention one thing: how much the prices were increasing. Read More

Migrants, Medicaid, and More: NY’s Widening Budget Gap

The multi-billion-dollar gap Governor Hochul and the Legislature must confront in next year’s state budget appears to be growing larger.  Read More

Beware of Medicaid’s Spending Swings

The state's Medicaid spending is becoming increasingly volatile from month to mo Read More

New York’s Health Insurance Affordability Gap Grows Wider

New Yorkers paid some of the highest health premiums in the country in 2022, with one benchmark of affordability reaching its worst level yet, according to recently released federal survey of private-sector benefit plans. Read More

The Health Department’s Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Report Leaves a Key Question Unanswered

As Medicaid downsizes in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, reporting by New York and other states is missing data on an important group – outgoing enrollees who successfully made the switch to job-based insurance Read More

The Uncertain Math of ‘Coverage for All’

State lawmakers are divided over proposal known as "Coverage for All," which would allow low-income undocumented immigrants to obtain free health insurance through the state-run Essential Plan. Read More

Budget Report Reveals More Detail About Medicaid

A state budget report published last week by the Hochul administration broke several pieces of news about Medicaid and other state health programs. Here are some of the key revelati Read More

Empire Center Logo Enjoying our work? Sign up for email alerts on our latest news and research.
Together, we can make New York a better place to live and work!