White Plains, NY – The Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL) unanimously approved the 2012 State Legislative Program on Monday, February 13 at its regular meeting. The program emphasizes the need to eliminate the burdensome Medicaid mandate. The legislative program is delivered to State lawmakers at the beginning of each new session and serves as a list of essential actions that need to be taken to assist Westchester County in its role as the service delivery arm of the State. Also included in the program, which both the County Administration and BOL have agreed upon, are insurance reimbursements for early intervention services and an increase in State Transit Operating Assistance funding for the county.
“Providing real property tax relief for the residents and business owners here in Westchester cannot be achieved until we eliminate the Medicaid mandate and other mandated costs that come down from the State, which the County pays for year after year,” said Bill Ryan (D-White Plains), chairman of the BOL Committee on Legislation, where the State Legislative program requests were deliberated upon and initially approved. “Having the full support of the Board and the County Executive for this package signals to our representatives in Albany the utter necessity of helping Westchester pay for these costly and burdensome mandates.”
The State legislative program approved by the BOL calls for the passage of bills now in the State Assembly and Senate that would immediately freeze the local share of Medicaid costs at the 2011 level and allow for a gradual take over by the State of all local government Medicaid costs. This meaningful mandate relief proposal has the active support of the 57 counties outside New York City and New York City as well. In Westchester, the Medicaid mandate cost now amounts to $216 million annually and is the single largest cost-driver of the county property tax levy.
The Westchester County legislative program is the first to weigh in on the need to pass the Assembly and Senate legislation that would implement a hard cap this year and begin the takeover of the local share of Medicaid, with full takeover coming by March 2019.
“Simply, it’s time for Albany to phase out the Medicaid mandate,” continued Ryan, past president of the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC), which has called for the elimination of unfunded state mandates. “The State controls all aspects of the Medicaid program, including benefit designs, eligibility and reimbursement rates. Enacting this legislation will place the responsibility for State programs in the hands of State leaders, where it belongs.”
In regard to reforming the funding of early intervention (EI) services, the BOL supports and urges the passage of two Assembly bills which will amend public health and insurance laws to prohibit an insurer from denying EI claims and to require commercial health insurers to include EI service providers in their networks. This would facilitate insurance reimbursement to municipalities for EI services and increase county revenue.
Additionally, the State Legislative Program requests help in gaining reimbursement to the County for Fashion Institute of Technology tuition, calls for an increase in the State’s Medicaid reimbursement rate to the Westchester Medical Center and looks to extend the electronic bond sale pilot program presently utilized by the County.