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Charitable Medicaid program may end in NY

Patient Financial Services Weekly Advisor, December 9, 2005

A charitable Medicaid program that has helped to insure thousands of New Yorkers may be abolished some time during the next few months, reports the New York Times.

New York remains the only state HMOs, community groups, and clinics can help future Medicaid beneficiaries fill out applications. Elsewhere, applicants must either fill out the paperwork themselves or visit a government welfare office.

However five years ago, New York Gov. George Pataki filed for a waiver, which the Clinton administration granted. That waiver expires on April 1, and it is unclear if the Bush administration will extend it.

In five years, the number of Medicaid beneficiaries in New York rose to more than one million people.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of citizens will be left without insurance if the Bush administration declines the waiver request.

The waiver doesn't come without its naysayers. A Nassau County executive, Thomas R. Suozzi, announced recently that authorities caught county workers coaching people how to conceal income to qualify for Medicaid. Facilitated enrollment makes cheating easier, say state officials.

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