[Copied from a letter by Joseph L. Bruno of the New York State Senate.]
August 18, 2005
Senator Charles Schumer
313 Hart Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Senator Schumer,
Last week, at a public forum in Glens Falls, you criticized State government
for not doing enough to reduce the local share of Medicaid. In fact,
the State is doing a great deal to reduce the local share of Medicaid.
Rather than simply offering criticism and finger pointing, there are several
constructive actions you could take to help New York address the Medicaid
problem, including fighting for an increase in the federal share New York
receives for Medicaid. First, let me inform you on what the State Senate
is doing on Medicaid reform.
This year, the Legislature approved a cap on local Medicaid costs and an
accelerated State takeover of local Family Health Plus costs that will save
local taxpayers more than $3 billion. The Family Health Plus takeover
was an initiative first proposed by the Senate Majority,
through our Medicaid Reform Task Force that recommended Medicaid reforms
that would save State and local taxpayers $2.5 billion, while ensuring that
New Yorkers continue to receive quality care. Unfortunately, the Assembly
would not support most of the Medicaid
reforms proposed by the Senate.
In addition, the Senate has lead [sic] the fight against Medicaid fraud by
passing a bill, sponsored by Senator Dean Skelos, to strengthen the state's
efforts to root out and stop Medicaid fraud and improve accountability for
Medicaid spending. However, the Assembly
refused to pass the Senate's bill. Governor Pataki did seize upon the
main recommendation of the Senate plan by appointing a Medicaid Inspector
General. The Senate Medicaid Reform Task Force will hold a series of
statewide hearings on Medicaid fraud to build support for
State action on a problem that is costing New York taxpayers billions of dollars.
The Senate will continue to work on reforming Medicaid and cracking down
on fraud, and we will keep fighting for new measures until we get laws enacted
that adequately address the problem. There are several things that
you and your colleague Senator Clinton could do to be
helpful.
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