Medicaid and health reform: the case of New York

New York State has the largest, most expensive state Medicaid program in the country. Thus, an examination of its Medicaid program can offer valuable lessons for other states that are considering reform of their health systems, as well as for reform at a nationwide level. Much recent growth in Medicaid in New York stems from shifting state-funded human service programs onto Medicaid and shifting the state's share of Medicaid onto nontraditional revenue sources. In contrast to other states, in which Medicaid is an unpopular program, New York's Medicaid provider constituency is large and diverse, and its clientele is relatively white and middle class. These two constituencies have made Medicaid harder to cut than in other states, in which Medicaid recipients lack political and economic clout. Current versions of national health reform will have little effect on Medicaid spending in New York, since they address neither spending on the elderly nor the "Medicaiding" of programs and revenue sources.