No!  At least, I don’t think so.  Yes,  March came in like a lamb is going out like an angry lion and, yes, the state Legislature managed to pass the budget an entire day before it is actually due.  But, this should not be cause for concern.  If anything, we know that the Earth has recently experienced a shift in its axis.  In all likelihood, this change in the Earth’s rotation has affected weather systems in the midwest, prompting a bizzare chain of events that eventually altered the pattern of budget negotiations in the Albany region.  Yes, there is a logical explanation for everything.

 So, what exactly made it into the budget? We know that the budget implemented the majority of recommendations passed by the Medicaid Redesign Team (many of which HCFANY did not support), including a global cap of 4% in the year-to-year growth of Medicaid spending.  The budget also sets a cap of $15.3 billion on Department of Health Medicaid state expenditures.  Read below for more:

• Click here to read the Governor’s press release.
• Click here to read the Health budget Article VII bill. (thank you NYLPI – for providing the pdf version!)
• Click here to read HCFANY’s budget testimony.
• Click here to read coverage from the NY Times.