S&P has just put out a report (no link) on the amount of money that state governments have promised to current and future retirees in “other post-employment benefits” (OPEB), mostly health.

The total in unfunded liabilities? $545 billion — of which New York State owes $55.9 billion, or 10.3 percent.

That’s more than New York’s 6.4 percent of the U.S. population.

New York clocks in at #10 in the amount that each individual person in the state owes, with a $2,859 unfunded liability per capita.

In worse shape than the Empire State, on a per-capita basis, are Alaska ($12,376), Connecticut ($7,551), New Jersey ($6,808), Hawaii ($6,786), Delaware ($6,530), West Virginia ($4,083). North Carolina ($3,508), Alabama ($3,249), and Maryland ($2,868).

The national median is $1,011 per capita. But the national average is $1,884 per capita, showing wide divergence.

S&P warns against making the direct comparisons without taking some differences into account. Some states, for example, include local school districts’ liabilities in the state burden. New York doesn’t.

Last year, E.J. scoured state and local financial statements to come up with a total of $205 billion in unfunded state and local liabilities.

UPDATE: In its enacted budget (p27), New  York has provided an updated figure of $60.2 billion for state liabilities, including $10.1 billion for the State University of New York (SUNY).

Tags:

You may also like

The House GOP’s Shrinking Budget Plan Could Still Cost New York Billions

The likely impact of federal health-care cutbacks has diminished in recent days as House Republican leaders backed away from some of their bigger-ticket proposals, reducing the estimated savings to $625 billion from previous figures of $715 billion and $8 Read More

How Medicaid ‘Expansion’ Changes Could Affect New York

As House Republicans consider cutbacks to federal Medicaid funding, their focus has turned to the so-called expansion population. Although the details of remain undetermined, the s Read More

New York’s Home Health Workforce Jumps by Another 10 Percent

New York's home health employment is continuing to soar, growing by 57,000 jobs or 10 percent from 2023 to 2024, according to newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More

Immigrant Enrollment in ‘Emergency Medicaid’ Surges to 480,000

One of the biggest drivers of New York's Medicaid enrollment growth over the past decade has been "emergency Medicaid" for undocumented immigrants, newly released state records show. Read More

Upstate Insurance Customers Pay the Price for Medicare’s Hospital Rate Hike

A billion-dollar Medicare windfall for upstate hospitals has turned into a crisis for upstate health insurers that's threatening to disrupt coverage for millions of New Yorkers. The Read More

New York’s Proposed ‘MCO Tax’ Would Generate a Fraction of What Lawmakers Expected

The Hochul administration's proposed "MCO tax" would generate far less than the $4 billion in extra federal aid anticipated by state lawmakers when they approved the concept this spring, according to documents obtained by t Read More

Hochul Hides the Specifics of a Looming Tax on Health Insurance

The Hochul administration has requested federal approval for a multibillion-dollar "MCO tax" on health plans without announcing the move or providing details to the public. As by l Read More

New Yorkers’ Health Costs Spiral as Officials Take Credit for ‘Savings’

The latest round of health insurance premium hikes announced by New York regulators adds to evidence that state policies are drowning consumers instead of helping them. Late last mo Read More