Assemblyman Karl Brabenec (R,TCN-Deerpark) together with the Assembly Minority colleagues launched a comprehensive Medicaid reform package today that would require a full state takeover of Medicaid costs over 10 years that are currently passed down to counties.

“Local Medicaid costs are one of the biggest unfunded mandates in our state,” Brabenec said. “This is a huge problem because county governments, already strapped for funding, must cover billions of dollars of costs for this program and usually end up covering those expenses through higher property taxes. This is a bloated and wasteful system that has certainly played a role in the exodus of one million New Yorkers since 2010.”

New York’s Medicaid costs are projected to be near $70 billion this year, second to only California. The state opts in to many additional programs that drive up costs at the state and local levels, and New York is one of only 18 states that require counties to cover some of the non-federal costs of Medicaid.