According to Lawyer Nicholas Hicks, Senator Andrew Cuomo will address healthcare budget issues in his upcoming proposal.
According to Lawyer Nicholas Hicks, some ramifications have come to light since the costs of the Medicaid program shifted from local to state governments. New York Senator, Andrew Cuomo, plans to address the concern in the new 2020-2021 budget as the state prepares to face a $6.1-billion-dollar budget gap. Shifting costs was supposed to help fix the budget gap, but local government officials feel it negatively affects Medicaid costs.
Lawyer Nicholas Hicks explains that Cuomo has said he is aware of the structural issues caused by the growth of the Medicaid program and knows that they need to be quickly addressed. Senator Andrew Cuomo has failed to elaborate much further about Medicaid costs but did suggest that local governments have given their feedback already.
Currently, the State of New York pays a much higher percentage of Medicaid than it did in the past. Lawyer Nicholas Hicks explains that for the past six years, New York has paid the local share of Medicaid because of a property tax cap measure that passed. When counties complained about the difficulties of staying within the tax cap, the State of New York agreed to pay for the increase in Medicaid.
The new agreement produced both financial and operational consequences. Lawyer Nicholas Hicks explains that when the local governments were paying for and operating the program, which cost 25 cents on the dollar, there was a financial incentive to run the program economically. It was more closely monitored and administered.
Complex state systems that handle education, health care, and criminal justice feel small changes in a big way. Lawyer Nicholas Hicks notes that New York Senator Andrew Cuomo explained the situation by giving the example of a ripple effect in water. Cuomo wants people to understand this before engaging in conversation about his new budget proposal.
Medicaid accounts for the most significant portion of the New York budget and remains one of the most expensive programs in the country. Thanks to Nelson Rockefeller, county governments must be responsible for picking up the costs of administering the program. Lawyer Nicholas Hicks notes that local government leaders also blame Albany for the additional burdens shifted onto them, which in turn impact local taxes.
State lawmakers take on one of the most stressful issues in politics, health care spending. Lawyer Nicholas Hicks notes that tens of billions of dollars are at stake as hospital groups and health care unions hold influence in Albany. New York Senator Andrew Cuomo believes the gap is the product of projected spending increases and is something that needs to be addressed. It won’t, however, affect his 2020 legislative session agenda.
“People hear deficit and they get concerned,” said Andrew Cuomo. “But, I said, look, we have a very bold agenda that I outlined in the State of the State, and we are going to enact a very bold agenda, and we are going to find the funding to do that.”
About Lawyer Nicholas Hicks:
Nicholas Hicks was rescued from NYC foster care as a child at the age of 5 years old. Lawyer Nicholas Hicks attended both public and private schools where he eventually graduated from ECC, UB & UB Law
School. He specializes in various areas of practice, including injury cases, debt elimination, criminal defense, divorce, child support, child custody, and more.
