Albany Lawmakers Pass Big Cuts in Health Care

The cuts will affect hospitals, nursing homes and a lengthy list of other health-related programs, and marked the first significant step in weeks toward an agreement on the state’s annual budget, now more than two months overdue. The legislation also requires the state to save an additional $300 million a year by cracking down on Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse.

In the Senate, the emergency budget bill including the health care cuts passed along party lines, with all 32 Democrats voting for it and all Republicans present voting against. In the Assembly, according to the unofficial tally, the package passed with the support of most Democrats, while some joined Republicans in voting against it.

Because cutting the state’s health care spending means forgoing some federal matching subsidies, the cuts are likely to have an even deeper impact than the stated total.

The Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents many institutions in the New York City region, estimated that the state cuts would cost hospitals and other providers an additional $250 million or so in federal money.

The Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, for example, would lose about $8.8 million in federal and state subsidies, according to the association, while Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens would lose $4.5 million. Because of cuts to graduate medical education financing, some major teaching hospitals would lose even more: Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, for example, would lose about $13.9 million.