Today, Assemblyman Brian Miller (R,I-New Hartford) and members of the Assembly Minority Conference put forth a plan to take Medicaid, a state-mandated, high cost driver and shift the costs to the state. The plan was introduced as a way to alleviate this heavy burden on local counties in an effort to lower property taxes.

“Upstate New York has continued to struggle under the control of Gov. Cuomo and a New York City-dominated Legislature,” said Miller. “Our hardworking residents don’t bring home enough money to provide for their families because they are taxed to death. State-mandated programs like Medicaid have driven up local taxes for far too long. This plan will use excess state funds to pay the local share of the Medicaid program, cutting property taxes for our residents and allowing them to take home more of their hard-earned money.”

Components of the Assembly Minority’s structural changes to the Medicaid program include:

• State Takeover of the Local Share of Medicaid Outside of New York City
  • Takeover of the local share of Medicaid for counties outside of NYC over a 10-year period;
  • Require the state to assume the local share of Medicaid costs, over multiple years, to allow the state time to make structural changes that do not reduce services to the overall cost of the program; and
  • Require all local savings realized from the program to be passed on directly to property taxpayers.
• State Takeover of 50 Percent of New York City’s Medicaid Costs
  • Takeover 50 percent of the City’s Medicaid costs over a 20-year period; and
  • Require all local savings realized from the program to be passed on directly to taxpayers.

Currently, New York state has the second-most costly Medicaid program in the country. In total, New York state counties pay $8.2 billion per year for Medicaid with New York City accounting for $4.7 billion and the rest of the state coughing up $3.5 billion.