Research

A mandated state takeover of local Medicaid costs, added to the House GOP health bill by U.S. Reps. Chris Collins and John Faso, promises relief for property taxpayers across New York. However, some counties stand to save more than others. Read More

Here’s another major policy conflict between the House Republicans’ Obamacare replacement plan and New York State’s unusually Draconian insurance laws. Read More

The House Republicans’ American Health Care Act would jeopardize coverage for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and cost the state government billions of dollars. On the whole, however, it’s far less disruptive than previous GOP alternatives to Obamacare. Read More

Clashing abortion policies could block or restrict New Yorkers from claiming health insurance tax credits under the House Republicans’ Obamacare replacement plan. Read More

State regulators last week shot down efforts by utilities to show ratepayers the amount by which their electric bills are being driven up by New York's new Clean Energy Standard. Read More

The Medicaid “block grant” being proposed by House Republicans would be far less costly to state governments than previously projected under a draft Obamacare replacement bill that became public on Friday. Read More

Governor Cuomo’s speech at a rally in defense of the Affordable Care Act included several questionable facts, exaggerations, or omissions. Read More

Thursday’s budget hearing raised an eye-opening fact about the impact of increasing pharmaceutical costs on New York’s Medicaid program: Rebates reduce the state’s bottom line by almost half. Read More

Nearly two-thirds of New York State’s tax receipts are now generated by the personal income tax, or PIT, which relies disproportionately on the highest-earning one percent of New York taxpayers. This paper presents charts and tables highlighting notable trends in state PIT data in light of proposals to extend or increase the state’s so-called “millionaire tax,” along with scheduled PIT rate reductions in tax brackets below the highest income levels. Read More

Imagine that the government, instead of distributing food stamps, wrote checks to grocery stores to reimburse them for giving stuff away. Now imagine that the government gave lots of that money to Zabar’s and Whole Foods while stiffing the bodegas and supermarkets where poor people actually shop. Such a system would be considered a travesty. Yet that, believe it or not, is how the state of New York finances health care for the uninsured. Read More

A close look at Cuomo’s plan to contain prescription drug costs – which relies on heavy-handed price controls – raises doubts as to its fairness, effectiveness, workability, and even legality. Read More

Taxpayers beware: the annual push to water down New York’s property tax cap is underway in the state Legislature. Read More