Gov. Pataki’s Budget Could Cut Millions in Funding from New York Hospitals

New York Gov. George Pataki's (R) proposed fiscal year 2006 budget would result in more than $800 million in funding reductions and new taxes for hospitals across the state, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Greater New York Hospital Association and 1199 SEIU, the Syracuse Post Standard reports. Central New York hospitals alone would see funding reductions of more than $13.6 million under the proposed budget, the analysis said (Mulder, Syracuse Post-Standard, 2/4). Pataki last month proposed a $105 billion budget that includes a $1.1 billion reduction in state Medicaid spending, a proposed a tax increase for hospitals and nursing homes and a reduction of some public health program benefits, such as coverage for mental health services under the Family Health Plus program. The reductions are intended to help close a projected $4.2 billion state budget deficit (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/19). "If these cuts go through, dozens of critically important hospitals across our state will close, and scores of other hospitals will have to curtail vital services and programs and lay off key staff," Kenneth Rasky, president of the GNYA, said in a statement. Meanwhile, a separate study released by the Healthcare Association of New York State, a trade group representing upstate hospitals, found that more than half of hospitals in the state lost money in 2003, and another 40% have profit margins too low to fund modernization and improvements in patient care (Syracuse Post-Standard 2/4).