New York Legislature Agrees To Child Health Plus Expansion
April 11, 2007 – 3:34 pm | posted in Health InsuranceThe New York Legislature on Sunday approved Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s (D) fiscal year 2008 state budget proposal, which would raise the eligibility requirement for Child Health Plus from 250% of the federal poverty level to 400% of the poverty level, the New York Times reports. The proposal would create the nation’s highest ceiling for SCHIP and would make the majority of New York’s 400,000 uninsured children eligible for the program. The Legislature approved the proposal “with little debate,” the Times reports. The budget also would simplify the Medicaid enrollment process. According to the Times, it is unknown how much the program expansions would cost or how many people would enroll in the programs as a result of the changes. About one million state residents are eligible for Medicaid but are not enrolled. In addition, the Legislature approved more than $900 million of the $1.3 billion in health care spending cuts requested by Spitzer. Cuts include a reduction in Medicaid reimbursements to pharmacists and a freeze in premiums the state pays to insurance companies that provide coverage for Medicaid beneficiaries. Spitzer proposed more than $400 million in cuts to nursing homes and hospitals — about $82 million of which were approved by the Legislature (Pérez-Peña, New York Times, 4/2).
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