Based on per-capita federal data, USA Today reports that “New Yorkers get more government aid per person from social programs than residents of any other state.”   The Empire State’s Medicaid spending per-person alone is more than double the average, but we’re also high in other categories of social assistance.

No real surprises here, although the story does feature this interesting twist on an old excuse:

“New York has a social tradition, an ethic, if you will, of providing services to the entire population with a special welcoming attention to those at the bottom,” says James Tallon, a former legislative leader who heads the United Hospital Fund, a research group.

New York has unique challenges — a large number of poor people, often immigrants, and a high-cost of providing health care in New York City, he says.

Of course, California, Florida and Texas also have large numbers of poor people and poor immigrants, but social spending per person in all three states is much lower.  They must lack our welcoming sense of tradition and ethics.

Tags:

About the Author

E.J. McMahon

Edmund J. McMahon is Empire Center's founder and a senior fellow.

Read more by E.J. McMahon

You may also like

A Medicaid Grant Recipient Sponsors a Pro-Hochul Publicity Campaign

While much of the health-care industry is attacking Governor Hochul's Medicaid budget, at least one organization is rallying to her side: Somos Community Care, a politically active medical group in the Bronx that recently r Read More

A Politically Active Medical Group Gets $29 Million in ‘Distressed’ Provider Funds

State officials awarded $29 million in 'distressed' provider funding to a politically active medical group in the Bronx, state records confirm. a network of physicians and other he Read More

Albany Lawmakers Push a $4 Billion Tax on Health Insurance

Legislative leaders are proposing an additional $4 billion tax on health insurance plans in the upcoming state budget – but withholding specifics of how it would work. Read More

Loss of Patients and Revenue Foreshadowed Downsizing for SUNY Downstate

The SUNY-owned hospital in Brooklyn facing a newly announced downsizing plan has seen its patient volume and revenue plunge over the past decade, according to a review of its financial reports. Read More

How a Medicaid Program To Improve Nursing Home Care Ended Up Paying for Union Benefits

New York State's budget-making process sometimes works like a closed loop, as interest groups on the receiving end of state spending reinvest a portion of their proceeds to lobby Albany for still more money. Read More

How Eliminating the Medicaid ‘Gap’ Would Perpetuate Inequity in Hospital Funding

A change in Medicaid reimbursement currently being pushed by New York's hospital industry appears likely to benefit high-end hospitals proportionally more than safety-net institutions, a review of hospitals' financial repor Read More

Hochul’s ‘Straight Talk’ on Medicaid Isn’t Straight Enough

Arguably the biggest Medicaid news in Governor Hochul's budget presentation was about the current fiscal year, not the next one: The state-run health plan is running substantially over budget. Read More

Despite Lingering Shortages, New York’s Health-Care Workforce Is Bigger Than Ever

The state's health-care workforce is recovering unevenly from the pandemic, with persistently lower employment levels in some areas and robust growth in others. This mixed pattern c Read More