NYAPRS Note: Rapid implementation of NYs 1115 waiver amendment will now begin, after yesterday’s approval by the federal government of a modified $8 billion five-year investment. At the NYAPRS Executive Seminar on April 24-25, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a statewide leadership panel on system reform and a workshop devoted to implementation of the DSRIP plan. These will be timely opportunities, as the seminar will likely fall during the time period when partnerships of providers and hospitals are finalizing their initial proposals for DSRIP projects. NYAPRS will continue to work with our community of providers to prepare for this significant opportunity.
Feds Give NY $8B for Health Care Overhaul
Crain’s New York Business; Barbara Benson, 2/13/2014
The Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to award $8 billion to the state’s health care system, the Cuomo administration announced.: Buck Ennis
Some 19 months after New York asked the Department of Health and Human Services to plow $10 billion in Medicaid savings back into the state’s health care system, the Cuomo administration announced Thursday afternoon that the agency had agreed in principle to award it $8 billion.
The so-called Medicaid waiver will fund a major transformation of the state’s health care delivery system.
In announcing the approval, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the money will “preserve vital health services in Brooklyn and other parts of the state including struggling hospitals.” His statement called the waiver “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.”
The state’s politicians and hospitals have aggressively lobbied Washington to approve the waiver this month so the state’s budget will reflect how the funds will be spent. In his city budget address earlier this week, for example, Mayor Bill De Blasio lambasted hospital closings in recent years and urged Washington to approve the state’s request.
“I believe this action must be taken in February so we can utilize the waiver to protect community health facilities,” the mayor said, adding that the waiver would also maintain the city’s public hospitals’ “ability to serve all New Yorkers, regardless of ability to pay.” He called the wave of recent hospital closures an “epidemic” and said, “We are working intensely with the state on plans to provide community health care … and protect against these endless closures.”
Federal approval of the waiver was strung out over such a long period because, according to the Cuomo administration, federal officials kept asking for additional information. The governor also said there was political pressure in Washington not to be generous to New York, in part because years ago the state had collected more Medicaid funding than it was entitled to.
Sen. Charles Schumer, who also lobbied for the grant, cheered the news Thursday afternoon.
“It’s not everything New York asked for, but it is a generous amount,” he 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. We worked long and hard for over a year to help deliver for New York, and now the federal government has stepped up to the plate.”