Legislators warn that Steuben County stands to lose $2.5 million in Medicaid funding
The Steuben County Legislature’s Administration Committee endorsed Tuesday a resolution in strong opposition to a proposal in the state’s 2023 budget to cut federal Medicaid funding earmarked for counties.
The state budget proposal would end the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (eFMAP) federal pass-through to counties and New York City.
The budget proposal means as much as a $2.5 million loss this year to county taxpayers, local officials said.
Under the new budget, the State would keep all the eFMAP federal funds allocated to counties going forward and use them to cover further expansions of Medicaid eligibility and benefits and to increase payments to health care providers.
“This is essentially a state-enforced mandate,” county Legislature Chairman Scott Van Etten, R-Caton. “The state still offers a Cadillac of medical services – more than any state in the union. We warned them years ago the costs would spiral out of control. But instead, they are keeping our money to pay for services we never asked for nor do we need them.”
State budget officials expect Medicaid costs to skyrocket by 30 percent between 2024 and 2027. At the same time, the elimination of the eFMAP federal pass-through will require all 57 counties to spend at least $280 million more in 2024, passing on the cost to local taxpayers.
According to The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) the state’s proposal is in complete opposition to the US Congress’ intention for the federal savings to be shared with counties in proportion to the amount they contributed toward the nonfederal Medicaid match.
The federal funds have been standard for more than 20 years, county Manager Jack Wheeler said.
Citing NYSAC reports, the deep cut to eFMAP comes at a time when the Governor’s budget proposes to fully fund its own reserves two years ahead of schedule by depositing $5.4 billion before the end of 2023. The state budget also projects a general fund surplus of $35 billion by the end of 2024, he said.
Wheeler said Steuben and other counties are urging Hochul to remove the proposed eFMAP cut within the next 30 days – the deadline for budget amendments.
“She is the first governor we’ve had that touts her understanding of local needs,” he said. “We call on her to show that understanding now.”
The resolution is expected to be voted on by the full Steuben Legislature when it meets at 10 a.m. Monday in the county Annex.
