It\u2019s becoming Medicaid for the\u2002Many.
\nThe number of New York state residents who get government-funded Medicaid health insurance is expected to soar to nearly 8 million this year, data released from Gov. Hochul\u2019s\u2002$227 billion budget plan shows.
\nAnother 3.7 million of New York\u2019s 19 million residents qualify for Medicare, the government\u2019s health insurance for the elderly. Some elderly residents also qualify for Medicaid, which covers long term care like nursing home costs.
\nExcluding those only on Medicare, the number of residents enrolled in New York\u2019s public health insurance hits 9 million when factoring in other programs covering those who don\u2019t qualify for Medicaid \u2014 including asylum seekers and other illegal\u2002migrants, and those whose incomes are slightly above the Medicaid threshold.
\nMedicaid rolls have skyrocketed\u2002over the past decade.
\nIn New York, the Affordable Care Act \u2014 better known as ObamaCare \u2014 was used to move more people into the Medicaid program and reduce the number of uninsured residents. Enrollees in Medicaid jumped from 5.2 million in 2012 to more than 6 million by 2019.
\nAnd during the pandemic, job losses and unemployment triggered even higher Medicaid surges \u2014 to 6.8 million in 2020, 7.3 million in 2021 and nearly 7.8 million by December 2022.
\nThe pandemic\u2019s impact and the state\u2019s ever-growing aging population is putting an enormous fiscal strain on Medicaid programs, whose total costs have ballooned to $94.4 billion, Hochul\u2019s budget plan says.
\nThe costs are split between the federal, state and local governments. The cost to New York will hit a record $34.7 billion \u2014 nearly double from a decade ago \u2014 in the fiscal year beginning in April.
\nThe average yearly cost per member is $9,531 \u2014 more than $1,600 over what it was in 2017, state data reveal.
\n\u201cThe budget reflects over $1.6 billion in new costs associated with Medicaid enrollment estimates above prior projections,\u201d Hochul\u2019s budget analysis said.
\nThe federal government pumped billions into states to help cover the jobless who enrolled in Medicaid and other public health insurances \u2014 but some of that emergency assistance will dry up, Hochul\u2019s budget briefing book notes.
\n\u201cDue to the COVID-19 public health emergency, Medicaid enrollment is projected to peak at a historic high of nearly 7.9 million enrollees in June 2023, and then decline over the next 12 months as COVID enrollment unwinds,\u201d Hochul\u2019s budget plan said.
\n\u201cEligibility will need to be re-determined for over 9 million people on the State\u2019s various public health insurance programs. The uncertainty around future Medicaid enrollment puts risk on Medicaid spending in future fiscal years.\u201d
\nNew York\u2019s aging population is another challenge.
\n\u201cThe State\u2019s population is aging and driving significant growth in the Medicaid program, as costs for those who need long term care are ten times that of a typical Medicaid enrollee,\u201d Hochul\u2019s spending plan said.
\nIn addition, the influx of poor migrants or asylum seekers landing here \u201cmay drive further costs to the State,\u201d the governor\u2019s plan says. Her proposed budget offers to pay New York City one third of an estimated $1 billion tab\u2002to address the migrant crisis.
\nHer spending plan also Increases the Medicaid reimbursement rates by 5% for hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living providers.
\nOne health care expert said the Medicaid enrollment has become bloated because the federal government suspended its typical verification checks during the pandemic.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a certain amount of waste going on,\u201d said\u2002Bill Hammond, senior fellow for health policy with the Empire Center for Public Policy.
\nHammond said Hochul is \u201cputting her foot on the gas\u201d instead of trying to put a lid on Medicaid spending.
\n\u201cMedicaid is supposed to be a safety net program. It shouldn\u2019t have this many people on it. We have too many people in the Medicaid system who should be in a commercial health plan [through their employer],\u201d he said.
\nHochul\u2019s budget briefing admits the Medicaid program \u201ccontinues to grow beyond indexed growth, further challenged by Medicaid enrollment that is no longer assumed to return to pre-pandemic levels.\u201d
\nBut she also defends spending on the program as providing \u201ccritical investments to address the needs of vulnerable New Yorkers, stabilize the health care delivery system and improve health outcomes.\u201d
\nHochul says the Medicaid program is fine for now, but warns \u201cin the long term\u2026. Medicaid spending will need to be further reformed to align with allowable growth, while still meeting the needs of vulnerable New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nypost<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s becoming Medicaid for the\u2002Many. The number of New York state residents who get government-funded Medicaid health insurance is expected to soar to nearly 8 million this year, data released from Gov. Hochul\u2019s\u2002$227 billion budget plan shows. Another 3.7 million of New York\u2019s 19 million residents qualify for Medicare, the government\u2019s health insurance for the elderly. Some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1155],"tags":[2284,1417,1170],"class_list":["post-5347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-medicaid","tag-million","tag-new"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5347"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10123,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347\/revisions\/10123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}