National Consumer Group: New York's Medicaid Program Among The Best In Nation Despite Second-Lowest Provider Reimbursement

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 10 Oct 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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According to a study by a nationally known, independent public interest group, New York State's Medicaid program is among the best in the nation for quality, scope of service, and eligibility measures, despite the fact that Medicaid providers in New York receive the second lowest reimbursement in the nation.

The study, Unsettling Scores: A Ranking of State Medicaid Programs (2007), was conducted by the non-profit public interest organization Public Citizen. The study scored states under four general categories: quality, scope of services, eligibility, and provider reimbursement. It found that New York's Medicaid program overall ranks eighth nationwide. However, the study noted, "New York ranks at or close to the top in three of the four categories (quality, scope of services, and eligibility), its final placement being lowered only by its very poor showing in the remaining category (provider reimbursement)."

According to the study, only providers in New Jersey receive lower Medicaid reimbursement than providers in New York.

Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) President Daniel Sisto said, "While there is clearly a need to improve our Medicaid system, this report supports our contention that despite perennial budget cuts and artificially low provider reimbursement rates, our hospitals, doctors, nurses, and staff provide quality care to New York's nearly 3,000,000 Medicaid enrollees."

Rick Abrams, Executive Vice President of the Medical Society of the State of New York added, "Every New Yorker deserves the finest medical care regardless of socioeconomic status. What our hospitals, doctors, nurses, and staff continue to accomplish on a daily basis in service to our Medicaid recipients is miraculous. With additional resources, our health care professionals will improve upon what is already an impressive record of comprehensive health care delivery."

Mr. Sisto also noted that the Public Citizen study lends support to a HANYS report, Medicaid in New York State: Separating Fact From Fiction, which found Medicaid cost increases in New York in recent years were due primarily to growing enrollment, not increases in cost of service or provider reimbursement. In fact, HANYS' study found that between 2000 and 2005, Medicaid spending increased by 54% in New York, while Medicaid enrollment grew by a nearly identical 54.5% over the same period.

"These studies will help end the myth that providers are driving our Medicaid expenditure increases," Mr. Sisto said.

The Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) is the only statewide hospital and continuing care association in New York State, representing more than 550 non-profit and public hospitals, nursing homes, home care agencies, and other health care organizations.

http://www.hanys.org

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