February 2, 2007
IT'S ON
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Spitzer says he'll fight those who oppose health care reforms |
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer Wednesday kicked off the annual state budget negotiations with a blunt declaration of war on special interests, including big hospitals and health care unions that have ruled the roost in Albany for the past decade.
The governor's budget address is available as a webcast here and full budget details and documents are available here.
A quick summary of the impact on HIV/AIDS programs:
- No cuts to the AIDS Institute at NYSDOH, and some modest new funding for quality improvement initiatives;
- No consumer cuts in Medicaid;
- Legislative initiatives on HIV/AIDS were baselined, including $6.5M to fight AIDS in communities of color;
- $1.4M for HIV job training is included in the budget and up to $1.4M was reappropriated, leaving OTDA with up to $2.8M to relaunch the program.
Insiders say top staff are also working on resolving the AIDS rent crisis issue, and that the Governor is committed to nailing down a resolution that will cap rents and keep tenants in their apartments.
(Housing Works and the New York AIDS Housing Coalition are carrying out every-week visits to legislators to push for new laws to protect tenants — download our flier here.
The powerful health care workers union SEIU Healthcare Workers Northeast/Local 1199 and the Greater New York Hospital Association declared war on Spitzer's health care initiatives, which, as we reported last week are intended to reinvest health care savings in expanded health coverage and investment in hospitals and providers that provide the bulk of Medicaid care.
One example: Spitzer will continue new rate increases for community-based providers of some AIDS, mental health, and substance abuse services during the one-year freeze on hospital rates. We're amused but not surprised to see hospital lobbyists whining over a one-year freeze after a Pataki era that froze rates for community-based providers while sending hospital reimbursements sky high.
Spitzer and his health care staff say they'll maintain reimbursements at or above the actual price of providing hospital and nursing home care — what they're cutting are subsidies and slush funds that have padded the budgets of mostly-Manhattan 'temples of medicine,' many of whom have low rates of Medicaid patient care.
Comment from Michael Kink, Legislative Counsel for Housing Works: "Governor Spitzer is moving health care spending in a new direction — and we think it's a good one. His budget moves health care money towards patients and front-line care providers, and away from big institutions that don't serve many Medicaid beneficiaries. More resources on the front lines, better access for patients and a stronger focus on preventive and primary care: that's going to strengthen our fight against HIV/AIDS."