N.Y. budget big accuses city of Medicaid ‘scare tactics’

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo’s budget director accused the city of engaging in “scare tactics” Tuesday as he defended the state’s plan to make counties and municipalities pay more for Medicaid if growth of the program isn’t curbed.

City officials claim the governor’s plan will mean the Big Apple could be on the hook for an additional $1 billion a year.

“It is not unusual for the city as part of the negotiations to use scare tactics,” Robert Mujica said during an appearance on WNYC. “Medicaid spending is not being cut year over year. We are talking about controlling the costs going forward to manageable level of 3%, which is doable. New York City should help us, participate in the process and engage in a productive process instead of using these kinds of scare tactics.”

Medicaid, a federally subsidized program providing health coverage to more than 6 million poor and elderly New Yorkers, is chiefly responsible for a projected $6 billion state budget deficit.

Cuomo’s gameplan to tackle the gap includes a proposed change to how the nonfederal share of Medicaid expenses is divided between the state and local governments and the formation of a Medicaid Response Team tasked with finding $2.5 billion in savings before the budget is due April 1.

City Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks, in Albany to meet with lawmakers on the issue Tuesday, said the plan is not “sustainable.”

“I’m focused on human beings. We provide services to real life flesh-andblood people,” he said. “The people we serve can be hurt by a cost shift of $1.1 billion to our city, particularly when we have been following the state policy of connecting people who are eligible for Medicaid to those services.”

State officials have disputed the city’s assessment and say they’re exaggerating the impact of the restructuring.

Cuomo, meanwhile, announced the members of the Medicaid Redesign Team on Tuesday. The panel, made up of state officials, members of the administration and health care professionals, will have seven weeks to hold public hearings and come up with a plan to slash $2.5 billion in Medicaid spending.