WICS Live: Around the States

New York: Governor Signs Bill Further Reducing State Budget. Governor David A. Paterson (D) December 4th signed a package of bills to reduce a mid-year $3 billion budget shortfall. The new law includes $107 million in reduced Medicaid and health care spending. The bills also would raise the fraud recovery target for the Office of Medicaid Inspector General by $150 million for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31. The state will save $21 million by eliminating the 2010 trend factor in Medicaid reimbursement rates in 2010 for hospitals, nursing homes, and home and personal care providers. Other savings, under the bills, include $18.5 million by reducing pharmacy reimbursement rates under Medicaid and the state's Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program. The budget cuts were far less than those proposed in November by Paterson, who called for $280 million in Medicaid and health care reductions.