NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A226
SPONSOR: Gottfried TITLE OF BILL:
An act to repeal sections 91 and 92 of part H of chapter 59 of the laws
of 2011 relating to the year to year rate of growth of Department of
Health state funds and Medicaid funding, relating to the state Medicaid
spending cap and related processes
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To enable the Medicaid program to meet the actual needs of Medicaid-eli-
gible New Yorkers, reflecting the cost of care, health care needs, and
growth of eligible population, instead of being limited by an artificial
cap and cuts by administrative fiat.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 - Repeals sections 91 (Medicaid spending cap) and 92
(Executive powers) of part H of chapter 59 of the laws of 2011.
Section 2 - Effective immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
The 2011 state budget imposed a percentage cap on Medicaid spending
growth, called for by the Governor as proposed by the Governor's Medi-
caid Redesign Team. That cap is calculated annually based on the overall
health care inflation rate for the past decade. For particular budgets,
marginal changes have been made, such as moving some expenditures out
from under the cap and putting other expenditures back under it, and
most recently allowing Executive actions under the COVID-19 emergency.
But the basic policy remains in place. It does not account for increased
Medicaid enrollment caused by a bad economy; more older adults living
longer and needing more home care or nursing home care; and increased
costs above the 10-year average inflation.
In May 2020 the Urban Institute estimated potential Medicaid enrollment
growth between 600,000 and 900,000 if New York reached 15%-20% unemploy-
ment. This would represent a 10%-15% enrollment increase. With New York
above 15% unemployment in June 2020, it is clear that enrollment growth
alone will far surpass the spending necessary to keep up with costs, let
alone accounting for increased provider costs related to COVID-19.
Whenever Medicaid spending is expected to breach the cap, the 2011 law
gives the Health Commissioner and Director of the Budget unilateral
powers to impose cuts in covered benefits, eligibility, or payments to
providers (hospitals, doctors and other health care professionals,
community health centers, home care agencies, drug treatment programs,
etc.) The cap mechanism is intended to impose austerity without any
mechanism for revenue measures and excludes the legislature despite its
co-equal role in the budget process.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2020: A11079 Referred to Health
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
226
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 6, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GOTTFRIED, ENGLEBRIGHT, BARRON, BRONSON, SIMON,
DINOWITZ, SEAWRIGHT, THIELE, GUNTHER, ABBATE, HUNTER, EPSTEIN, McDO-
NOUGH, REYES, TAGUE -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Health
AN ACT to repeal sections 91 and 92 of part H of chapter 59 of the laws
of 2011 relating to the year to year rate of growth of Department of
Health state funds and Medicaid funding, relating to the state Medi-
caid spending cap and related processes
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Sections 91 and 92 of part H of chapter 59 of the laws of
2 2011 relating to the year to year rate of growth of Department of Health
3 state funds and Medicaid funding are REPEALED.
4 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00609-01-1
