Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Pataki's proposed budget to put cap on Medicaid (New York)   Albany Times-Union story - "Gov. George Pataki today will unveil a roughly $105 billion budget with a conditional promise to cap exploding county Medicaid expenses. ... Pataki revealed perhaps his biggest and most controversial initiative Monday -- the plan to cap county Medicaid costs. The $7 billion tab has forced local governments to raise property taxes by double-digit rates for years. The cap is contingent on $1.5 billion in health care cuts -- $1.1 billion for the state and the rest for counties -- by taxing hospitals and nursing homes, reducing reimbursement rates and creating other efficiencies in the more than $44 billion Medicaid program. ... The governor also promises to take over county costs for Family Health Plus, the state health insurance program for working poor, and pare the program by abolishing coverage of adult dentist office treatments, mental health, podiatry and private nursing services."