Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli (D-Syracuse) today announced that the Assembly passed legislation to relieve counties across New York of $172 million in previously owed Medicaid debt. For Onondaga County, the Medicaid relief means a savings of $2.6 million.

“Medicaid is increasingly putting a serious financial burden on government and taxpayers, especially here in Syracuse. To help ease that burden, the Assembly will forgive $172 million in Medicaid-related debt that counties owe the state – primarily for rehabilitation services provided to residents of certified community residences,” Magnarelli said.

The Assembly and Senate recently reached a bi-partisan agreement on providing this much-needed relief, which the Senate passed last month.

While the legislation is one small step in reducing the Medicaid burden on local taxpayers, there is still more to be done. In part, the savings helped the County Legislature cut the proposed tax increase in half – from 9.4 percent to 4.6 percent – to provide further relief to Onondaga County families.

“We have an obligation to provide citizens with access to quality health care. Too often, devastating health care cuts are pushed in the name of ‘reform.’ We must do everything we can to ease the fiscal burden on local taxpayers without the false choice of cutting costs by eliminating health care for the most vulnerable among us,” Magnarelli concluded.