A Senate and Assembly joint legislative committee convened today in Albany for a hearing examining the Governor’s state Medicaid budget proposals.
HCA President and CEO Al Cardillo submitted testimony, available here. It explains the vital role of home and community care, Medicaid budget trends involving home and community care (including new obligations and responsibilities on plans and providers), as well as HCA’s recommendations for offsetting Medicaid costs in place of cuts to assure the viability of vital programs and services.
As extensively reported, the Governor has reconvened the Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) to identify $2.5 billion in savings for the April 1 budget deadline.
At today’s hearing, legislators asked some pointed questions of Executive officials about many aspects of the Governor’s budget proposals. Among them: the expediency of the MRT process and timeline; concerns about ensuring the involvement of the Legislature in this process; questions about the performance of the Medicaid global cap, cap reporting and methodologies influencing the deficit; concerns about cuts to programs and, in some cases, outright objection to specific cuts; anticipated changes to the global cap percentage, even recommendations to eliminate it; and more.