NEWS RELEASE

NEW YORK CONTINUES TO BE FIRST IN NATION
IN PER-CAPITA MEDICAID SPENDING

ALBANY—New York State's Medicaid spending increased 3 percent between 2005 and 2006, despite an average decrease in total Medicaid spending seen nationwide, according to a new analysis by The Business Council's Public Policy Institute.

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/JustTheFacts.html. Figures include state and federal expenditures.

The analysis of Kaiser Family Foundation 2006 Medicaid data found that New York’s per capita Medicaid spending in 2006 was $2,316 – 128 percent above the national average of $1,015 and 46 percent above Rhode Island, the state with the second-highest per-capita Medicaid spending in the nation. Total Medicaid spending in New York increased 3 percent between 2005 and 2006.

Twenty-two states decreased total Medicaid spending between 2005 and 2006, leading to a national decrease in spending of 0.2 percent. A February 2007 report by the National Health Statistics group at the Center for Medicaid Statistics attributed decreased spending to a new Medicare prescription drug program, as well as efforts by many states to reduce overall Medicaid costs.

Hospital spending: The Empire State also ranked number one in total and per-capita hospital spending. New Yorkers spent more than $9.8 billion dollars on inpatient and outpatient hospital care in 2006, or $509 per capita -- 140 percent above the national per-capita average. New York’s total hospital spending made up 15 percent of all Medicaid hospital spending nationwide, despite hosting 6 percent of the nation’s total population.

Long-term care facilities: New York’s per-capita spending on nursing facilities was $360 in 2006, the second-highest amount in the nation and 122 percent above the national average.

Home health care and personal care: New Yorkers far outspent the rest of the nation on home health and personal care in 2006. The state’s $441 per-capita bill was 190 percent above the national average and the state’s total spending tab of $8.5 billion made up 19 percent of the national total –- more than three times its share of the population.

All tables in the Just the Facts series are available at www.ppinys.org/reports/JustTheFacts.html.