Clinton County officials slam Gov. Hochul’s NY Medicaid plan

Feb. 10—PLATTSBURGH — The Clinton County Legislature is calling on the state to back off on a plan to alter Medicaid costs that could cost the county millions.

In Gov. Kathy Hochul's recently proposed executive budget, there is a plan to send the Affordable Care Act's enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Program funds back to the state instead of keeping them allocated for counties.

These funds have been directly shared with all of New York's counties to keep Medicaid costs down for several years now.

The County Legislature sent a message Wednesday night with a resolution formally opposing the budget plan by the state.

According to the local measure, the state would "keep all of these federal savings going forward and use them to cover further expansions of Medicaid eligibility and benefits and to increase payments to health care providers."

NEGATIVELY IMPACTFUL

Michael Zurlo, Clinton County administrator as well as president of the New York State Association of Counties, said the state keeping these funds would have a significant and sudden financial impact on the county if it does indeed pass.

For example, the county's current budget, which was passed in December, would have an instant $1.7 million hole in it.

Moving forward, the proposed policy shift would continue to result in an estimated loss of $2,250,959 for Clinton County's 2024 fiscal year and beyond.

"This is probably one of the most negatively impactful policy decisions that we've seen as a result of an executive budget," Zurlo told the Legislature Wednesday.

"If this proposal passes as is, it will literally create a hole in your county budget, because we passed a budget assuming this federal Medicaid percentage was going to continue to get passed through to the counties as the Congress intended. So, three quarters of that $2.2 million will literally be a hole in your 2023 spending plan."

In addition to the now passed resolution, Zurlo said Legislature Chairman Mark Henry (R-Area 3, Chazy) has sent a letter to the governor, NYSAC, Speaker of the Assembly, Majority Leader of the Senate, Division of Budget and to the congressional delegation in protest.

"We are working very hard," Zurlo said.

OTHER COUNTIES WEIGH IN

Clinton County is also not the only local government taking a stance against this policy change, Zurlo said.

"This is being done by every county," he said, adding that this is a non-partisan issue affecting everyone.

"The governor's home county of Erie County is slated to lose somewhere between $27 (million) and $30 million annually."

For a broader perspective, the elimination of the "ACA eFMAP federal pass-thru will require the 57 counties to spend at least $280 million more in SFY 2024 and approximately $1 billion when NYC is included," the Legislature's resolution stated.

"I picked an awful year to be the President of the Association of Counties," Zurlo joked.

"But we as an association are fighting every day. We are working cordially with the executive, with the Division of Budget, they obviously have a difference of opinion on this issue ... But we are trying to seek a global solution. So we're going to give ourselves a little more time to see if there's a willingness on the governor's behalf and the DOB's behalf to do that."

Copies of resolution #122 are now being sent to Gov. Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Sen. Dan Stec (R-Queensbury), Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake), U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville) and "all others deemed necessary and proper."

Email: cnewton@pressrepublican.com

Twitter: CarlySNewton

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