Cuomo Says Special Session Might Be Necessary to Allocate Public Hospital Funding
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the state would be holding onto federal funding that helps offset uncompensated care until it can determine an equitable way to distribute the money. Those funds include money that was expected to be distributed last year and those allocated for the current fiscal year.
The governor said that if Congress doesn't the restore the funding by the end of the year, a special session of the state Legislature might be necessary. The funding is tied to the Disproportionate Share Hospital program, which covers hospitals' losses for treating Medicaid and uninsured patients.
Cuts to the DSH program went into effect Oct. 1 and will total $330 million in the current fiscal year and $1.1 billion in the next 18 months, according to the state. The funding reduction is especially harmful to public hospitals, such as the 11-hospital NYC Health + Hospitals and SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. . .