NYAPRS Note: At long last, CMS has approved New York’s Medicaid Waiver application. “
The current Executive Budget proposal for the fiscal year that starts April 1 “doesn’t rely on the funds to balance the books, but state officials said the money would be used in addition to the state’s original spending plan. For example, the money from the Medicaid waiver can only be used on specific programs, such as expanding primary care and assisting hospitals in poor areas.”
State, Feds Reach $8 Billion Medicaid Waiver Deal
By Jordan Carleo-Evangelist Albany Times Union February 13, 2014
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office just announced that the state has reached an agreement in principle with the federal government on an $8 billion Medicaid waiver that will allow New York to reinvest Medicaid savings to prop up struggling hospitals.
The agreement is $2 billion less than the $10 billion the state requested — an ask that had languished for more than a year and become an increasingly sore subject for the Cuomo administration.
Last month, Cuomo’s staff testily said that any further delay on the federal government’s end would push three Brooklyn hospitals into crisis.
Earlier this week, the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee urged Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to withhold the waiver approval until the state has repaid the feds billions in Medicaid overpayments.
STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR CUOMO ON $8 BILLION MRT WAIVER
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York has reached an agreement in principle on a federal waiver that will allow the state to reinvest $8 billion in federal savings generated by the Medicaid Redesign Team over five years to transform the state’s health care system and preserve vital health services in Brooklyn and other parts of the state including struggling hospitals. Today’s agreement follows 19 months of aggressive advocacy by Governor Cuomo on the state’s need for MRT savings reinvestment.
“Today we have reached an agreement in principle with the federal government that will allow New York to reinvest $8 billion in savings to transform New York’s health care system,” Governor Cuomo said. “While the State will be reviewing the terms and conditions of this agreement, it is clearly the biggest step forward towards a positive conclusion for our communities, particularly in Brooklyn, that have suffered from diminishing health care services. Securing this waiver will address those needs, allowing us to increase access and improve the quality of care for New Yorkers while making New York’s health care system a model for the entire nation. I thank Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her team at the Department of Health and Human Services for their cooperation and assistance.”
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/206226/state-feds-reach-8b-medicaid-waiver-deal/
NY To Get $8B Medicaid Waiver And Avoid Cuts
By Joseph Spector, Gannett News Service February 13, 2014
New York will receive an $8 billion Medicaid waiver from the federal government that will stave off cuts in programs and services, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today.
The agreement is less than the state wanted. New York had been seeking a $10 billion waiver since August 2012, but Cuomo said the $8 billion will help avoid reductions in spending at health-care facilities, particularly some New York City hospitals that faced closure.
“While the state will be reviewing the terms and conditions of this agreement, it is clearly the biggest step forward towards a positive conclusion for our communities, particularly in Brooklyn, that have suffered from diminishing health care services,” Cuomo said in a statement.
The waiver is for five years and allows New York to keep a share of its Medicaid savings through cost reductions in recent years. The savings will be used to fund health-care programs.
Cuomo’s $137 billion budget proposal for the fiscal year that starts April 1 doesn’t rely on the funds to balance the books, but state officials said the money would be used in addition to the state’s original spending plan.
For example, the money from the Medicaid waiver can only be used on specific programs, such as expanding primary care and assisting hospitals in poor areas. New York spends more than $50 billion a year on Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor and disabled.
State health officials indicated last month that several financially struggling hospitals, particularly three in Brooklyn, would face closure without the waiver. They also mentioned that St. Francis Hospital and Health Center in Poughkeepsie was in peril.
Saint Francis Hospital CEO Art Nizza told Gannett’s Albany Bureau last month that the waiver would “would benefit hospitals around the state,” but couldn’t “speculate about the specific impact” on St. Francis since the hospital is in bankruptcy.
Sen. Charles Schumer hailed the agreement.
“It’s not everything New York asked for, but it is a generous amount,” Schumer said in a statement. “This large amount of money should help all of New York – both upstate and downstate — with both its budgetary challenges and hospital needs.”
NY Governor Says Medicaid Funding Infusion Needed To Support Those Insured In Health Exchange
By Michael Virtanen Associated Press February 13, 2014
ALBANY, New York — Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that New York needs the Medicaid funding infusion it first requested from the federal government in 2012 to support hospital overhauls and expanded primary medical care to meet growing patient demand under the state’s new health insurance exchange.
More than 412,000 New Yorkers have enrolled for health insurance coverage through the exchange since October.
Meanwhile, state officials are pursuing a waiver to use up to $2 billion annually from Medicaid over five years to help financially struggling hospitals shift to more primary and outpatient medical care. More primary care will be needed to accommodate the newly insured, projected to top 1 million in three years.
“If we do not get the waiver quickly, there will be a health care crisis in this state and hospitals will close, especially in Brooklyn,” Cuomo told reporters in a conference call, repeating warnings he made two weeks ago. “I’ll also say if we don’t get the waiver it will endanger the operation of our health exchange, because our health exchange is premised on the concept of the transformation of our health care system.”
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday he has communicated over the past few weeks with White House officials and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about the importance of the waiver. “I am confident that Secretary Sebelius will conclude her review of New York’s application in the near future,” the New York Democrat said.
Sebelius wrote in a letter Jan. 22 that there are outstanding issues with a potential agreement being drafted by federal officials. She wrote that decisions on the future of particular hospitals should be left to state and local officials and shouldn’t be determined by the waiver, which is meant to improve care and cut Medicaid costs.
Her office said two weeks ago that the waiver issue should be resolved within 30 days. A spokeswoman declined further comment Thursday.
The proposed Medicaid spending includes $1 billion for Brooklyn hospitals, which state officials say have about 1,200 excess patient beds. Some have been relying on extra state money to keep operating. Waivers enable states to use federal money resulting from cost savings in their programs.
The funds would provide temporary hospital subsidies and fund primary care programs for patients, all meant to reduce preventable hospital admissions by 25 percent. Financially troubled hospitals would likely have to make major changes like closing wings and cutting excess capacity including staff.
U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wrote to Sebelius this week that the panel was continuing to scrutinize New York’s Medicaid program, citing a committee report last year that concluded that poor oversight and improper state financing arrangements led to New York misspending tens of billions of dollars over two decades.
Issa and two Republican colleagues urged Sebelius to hold New York to strict program standards and recover overpayments.
Cuomo said the criticisms of the state’s Medicaid practices are from past issues that have been fixed.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9e9787d6a85d4516890242431342de60/NY–Medicaid-New-York