March 05, 2009

Westchester County Executive Andy Spano said Westchester could receive between $61 million and $75 million in federal Medicaid relief funds over the next two and a half years, according to projections from the Governor’s office announced today.

Spano said while this was good news for county taxpayers, he cautioned that only about $14.7 million of the funds would come to the county in a lump sum. The rest, he said, would be deducted from the county’s monthly Medicaid bill, which currently amounts to about $200 million a year.    

“This estimate from the Governor's office is just that, an estimate,’’ said Spano. “Until the state budget is finalized, we will not know the exact amount we will receive. Plus we are still facing the potential loss of $16 million in state funding under the Governor’s current budget proposal. But there is one thing we do know:

Westchester residents deserve relief from this overwhelming Medicaid expenditure that they pay year after year. That’s why we will use the funds only for property tax relief, which will offset these high Medicaid costs. It will not be used for new programs or new spending.” 

Estimates from the Governor’s office are that after the initial $14.7 million is received, the county’s Medicaid bill, which is deducted from county accounts monthly by the state, would be reduced by $38.3 million in 2009-2010 and by $21.9 million in 2010-2011. But Spano said that the county believes that it may actually receive a smaller share once the state finalizes its budget.   

As part of the federal stimulus plan, states are expected to receive “FMAP” or Federal Medicaid Assistance Funds to relieve some of the burden of cost of the federal Medicaid health care program. 

The program has been funded equally between the state and federal governments, with the federal government paying 50 percent and the states paying 50 percent. New York, however, is one of only a handful of states in the nation that requires counties to pay half of the state’s Medicaid costs.

Spano for many years has called for a reduction in state mandated spending such as Medicaid, saying the costs cannot be controlled by the counties. In 2005 after many years of lobbying by counties, the state agreed to cap the counties’ share of Medicaid costs to a 3 percent increase.

The county is still awaiting word on what other stimulus funds it may receive to fund “shovel ready” infrastructure and energy efficiency programs. The county has already submitted a list of projects that include roads and bridge repairs, upgrades to sewage treatment plants and projects to make county buildings more energy efficient and put county residents to work.