April 6, 2007
STATE BUDGET - THUMBS UP
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Spitzer scored some health care wins. |
Housing Works and our allies in Medicaid Matters New York, the statewide Medicaid consumer coalition, supported Governor Spitzer's health care budget proposals for two big reasons: They protected Medicaid beneficiaries from cuts, and they moved the Medicaid system in a new direction that would improve access and quality for those who need care the most.
Now we’ve got a final state budget, and it’s clear that Spitzer won some points and lost some points.
The budget takes our state a few big steps in a new, better direction on health care. And we might have taken quite a few more if powerful lobbyists for the Greater New York Hospital Association and 1199/SEIU (the Healthcare Education Project) hadn’t blocked the path.
Important aspects of the Governor’s health care access, reform and restructuring proposals were preserved. But some of the Governor’s proposed initiatives were eroded as a result of negotiations with the Senate and Assembly.
Health care access improved
The budget includes an expansion of New York’s nation-leading Child Health Plus program to include 400,000 children who are currently uninsured. And it will lower bureaucratic barriers to allow over 900,000 uninsured adults to get and keep Medicaid and Family Health Plus coverage. These are important victories for New Yorkers who need care.
The budget also includes new resources for translation services, recognizing that competent communication between providers and consumers is an important health care access and quality issue. MMNY and other advocacy organizations will work with the Governor and the Legislature to ensure that these funds are used for their intended purpose, and we’ll work to develop resources for language services at a range of health providers, in addition to the voluntary hospitals funded in this year’s budget.
Resource distribution reformed
MMNY supports Governor Spitzer’s efforts to direct Medicaid funds toward the hospitals and institutions that provide the most care to Medicaid patients. And we support his efforts to prioritize primary, preventive and community-based care.
In the final budget, over $650 million will go to health care providers serving the largest number of Medicaid beneficiaries, including $546 million in workforce recruitment and retention funding – 77 percent of total recruitment and retention funding - and $108 million in hospital funding. That’s an important victory in the effort to get Medicaid resources where they will do the most good.
Budget language will allow hospital inpatient care reimbursement to be reweighted to prioritize high-need health-access areas, including OB-GYN, starting on January 1, 2008. That’s another victory in the effort to make sure our public resources are used effectively and that we’ve got the right incentives in place to meet community needs.
Community-based care effort started
The budget includes $2.5 million for housing subsidies to help implement the Nursing Facility Transition and Diversion waiver, which will help people who need long-term care services live independently at home and receive care in non-institutional settings. That’s a good start toward a stronger disability housing policy that promotes independent living, reduces reliance on institutional sites, and makes the best use of health care expenditures.
And the budget includes adjustments to the indigent care pools to get more funding to front-line community health centers, building resources in the communities that need it most.
Housing Works and MMNY will continue to fight for the interests of Medicaid beneficiaries in the ongoing effort to reform and improve New York’s public financing and health care delivery system.
We look forward to the development of significant new investments in community-based primary care because strengthening and expanding the primary care infrastructure is critical to meeting the health care needs of all New Yorkers.
Housing Works and Medicaid Matters will work with the Governor and the Legislature to continue reforms and improvements in our public financing and health care delivery system – and we’ll make sure that beneficiaries and taxpayers know who is supporting meaningful reform and who is blocking it.