Medicaid spending per-capita in New York State is now over twice the national average.
An average of $2,165 per resident is spent on the service, a new Public Policy Institute analysis shows. The Institute analyzed Medicaid spending data for New York and the other 49 states as the latest installment in its Just The Facts series of key economic and statistical indicators for New York. The updated tables on Medicaid spending, and all other tables in the Just the Facts series, are available at www.ppinys.org/reports/jtf.htm.
The state’s spending made up 14.5 percent of total spending on Medicaid in the U.S. that year. That percentage was more than twice the state's share of U.S. population, 6.6 percent.
RBA CEO and President Al Samuels said the numbers are nothing new to people familiar with the state’s situation but that doesn’t mean its ok.
"We know by now, New York is the home to high taxes, high energy costs, high healthcare costs and a myriad of other unnecessary hindrances," he said.
New York’s $486 per capita on inpatient and outpatient care in hospitals in 2004 was the highest in the nation and 143 percent above the national average. The state spent 146 percent more than California ($197 per capita), and 256 percent more than Texas ($136 per capita).
The state spent $337 per capita on nursing facilities in 2004, the first in the nation and 113 percent above the national average. New York also spent the most on home and personal care. At $393 per capita, the state's spending was 207 percent above the national average and made up 21 percent of the total Medicaid dollars spent on home and personal care.
New York spent $198 per capita on prescription drugs, the third highest amount in the nation and 91 percent more than the national average, the data show.
Healthcare promises to be a major issue in the coming gubernatorial elections. Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer attended a recent Business Council luncheon where he made comprehensive suggestions to both reduce costs and expand coverage within the system. To see the article visit www.bcnys.org.
