MEDICAID MOOLAH: A trio of congressional representatives urged Hochul today to use the state’s cash reserves and monthly cash balances to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospitals, echoing a policy proposal that is being pushed by the Greater New York Hospital Association and the health care union 1199SEIU but was denounced by fiscal watchdogs. In a letter to the governor, Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman, Yvette Clarke and Nydia Velázquez decried “shocking disparities” in health care access and outcomes among Brooklyn residents — particularly low-income people of color who disproportionately rely on Medicaid for health insurance coverage — due to a widening gap between the state’s Medicaid rates and hospitals’ expenses. The Greater New York Hospital Association claims that Medicaid pays hospitals, on average, 30 percent less for services than the cost to deliver them — a gap of about $6.8 billion. But GNYHA officials have repeatedly rebuffed POLITICO’s requests for the figures underpinning their calculations. While Medicaid costs do exceed revenue at many New York hospitals, the shortfall varies greatly depending on the facility, according to a POLITICO analysis of 2021 data compiled by the Empire Center. NYC Health + Hospitals facilities and rural New York hospitals see the largest gaps, percentage-wise, with Medicaid paying as much as 90 percent less than the cost of care, the analysis shows. The gaps are much narrower at hospitals in wealthy health systems. That’s because they typically see many more patients than the small community hospitals that suffer the brunt of the reimbursement-rate gap. Higher Medicaid payments would mean hundreds of millions of dollars more in revenue. For that reason, budget watchdogs are urging state lawmakers to instead make more targeted investments for health care institutions that face urgent funding needs and dire budget deficits. — Maya Kaufman ASSEMBLY BEGINS QUASHING GOP BILLS: Albany’s drawn-out budget season is now overlapping with another portion of the legislative calendar: the annual blocking of Republican measures in the Assembly. GOP-sponsored bills of statewide significance have long been kept from receiving votes on the full floor. But Republicans can force committees to vote on a handful of bills each year in a window that ends on May 7, now only five regularly-scheduled session days away. Democrats have begun the process of voting down these measures. Nearly all of a lengthy Codes Committee meeting late Tuesday was filled with Republicans arguing for measures to overhaul bail reform, increase penalties for fentanyl charges and expand the list of hate crimes while Democrats beat them back. “We’ve already amended the bail law a few times,” Chair Jeff Dinowitz, a Bronx Democrat, said when rejecting a proposal to amend it again. None of the measures has a chance of passing the Democratic-dominated Legislature, but the debate provides Republicans with a rare opportunity to get the majority on the record on certain issues and attack them for their votes. “Albany Democrats won’t even look in the direction of legislation that makes people safer, puts guardrails on the migrant crisis or supports the men and women of law enforcement,” Minority Leader Will Barclay said after the bills were voted down. — Bill Mahoney ANIMAL RIGHTS LAW: A law takes effect Thursday that will prohibit the slaughter of horses for human and animal consumption in New York, which will be among the most stringent horse anti-slaughter laws in the nation, supporters and lawmakers said. The law, signed by Hochul, comes after years of protests by animal-rights groups about abuse of horses at racetracks and the need for stronger penalties for the pipeline of transporting horses for the intent of slaughter through New York to Canada, in particular. In some cases, horses are shipped to other states and then to Mexico. “Although it is now illegal to participate in the slaughter of any type of horse, it is imperative that law enforcement agencies apply the prohibition on buying, selling, and transporting horses that will be killed for their meat,” Assemblymember Deborah Glick, a Manhattan Democrat and a bill sponsor, said in a statement. — Shawn Ness ABORTION CASE: Nuns and dioceses, churches and other faith-based organizations all sued New York over its mandate that religious institutions cover abortions under their employee insurance plans. Now, they will appear before the state’s highest court next week to make their case. The coalition said it will argue before the state Court of Appeals that the mandate violates their First Amendment right to freedom of religion. They blame an increase in pressure on the Department of Financial Services to implement the change from abortion-rights activists. A decision is expected later this year. — Shawn Ness |