City and state of New York quarrel over NYC Health + Hospitals’ finances
Cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, a delay in state payments and lack of help from the city are all being blamed for the financial predicament of NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public hospital system in the U.S.
The delayed DSH cuts kicked in on Oct. 1, with New York hospitals estimated to lose between $329 million (according to CMS) and $1.1 billion (according to the state). NYC Health + Hospitals already had a projected budget deficit of $1.1 billion for 2018. Its outgoing CEO, Stan Brezenoff, accused the state of exacerbating those financial problems, claiming in a letter obtained by POLITICO its withholding $380 million in DSH funds from the system.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo disputed those claims. His budget director told the New York Times there’s no set schedule to release federal DSH funds to the system, and suggested the city of New York should use financial reserves to fill the system’s budget gap.
“The first source of financial assistance for these hospitals must be their associated local governments,” he said.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.