News

13
Apr
2005
The Senate Republican Majority has unveiled plans that would overhaul the state’s Medicaid fraud detection with the goal of reducing corruption and waste and returning money to taxpayers, according to a release from Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s office
13
Apr
2005
The effective state and local tax rate on businesses in New York is among the highest in the country, a study by the Council on State Taxation finds. State and local business taxes in New York totaled an estimated $42 billion in 2004, according to the study. That represented 5
13
Apr
2005
The Senate Republic Majority has unveiled plans that would overhaul the state’s Medicaid fraud detection with the goal of reducing corruption and waste and returning money to taxpayers, according to a release from Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s office. “Senate legislation restructures the detection, investigation and prosecution of Medicaid fraud in New York by strengthening and streamlining the roles of the Health Department and Attorney General, and creates a new Medicaid Inspector General to help uncover fraud, waste and abuse,” the release said
12
Apr
2005
ALBANY—New York’s state and local government employees collect higher retirement benefits while contributing less than state and local government employees in other states, according to a Public Policy Institute analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. State and local government retirees in New York collected an average $22,676 in pension benefits in 2003, some 16 percent above the national average, according to the Institute
11
Apr
2005
Although most New Yorkers seem to agree that Medicaid costs too much in New York and doesn’t deliver a commensurately high level of care, there are powerful political interests in Albany blocking meaningful reforms, according to the latest installment of the Public Policy Institute’s series Medicaid Watch ’05
07
Apr
2005
Rank benefits per recpient State Benefits per recpient Rank Emp. contributions as % of total receipts Employee contributions as % of total receipts Total receipts Employee contributions Benefits Recipients 1 Rhode Island $14,360 16 24 594,024 144,354 537,901 37,459 2 Connecticut $12,560 21 18 1,936,835 354,162 1,896,889 151,032 3 New York $11,882 42 8 14,092,122 1,092,437 15,538,131 1,307,680 4 Alaska $11,625 15 25 680,325 168,237 786,930 67,691 5 Pennsylvania $9,779   NA -500,917 1,274,219 5,440,534 556,347 6 Oregon $9,630 40 10 4,831,616 467,396 2,072,499 215,219 7 Michigan $9,449 37 13 5,740,263 766,282 4,605,817 487,439 8 New Jersey $9,224 19 21 4,176,256 882,858 4,656,710 504,831 9 Hawaii $9,073 36 14 417,924 57,214 602,805 66,442 10 California $8,536 27 17 34,477,498 5,817,272 17,994,639 2,108,033 11 Massachusetts $8,139 9 30 4,202,519 1,262,003 2,847,021 349,815 12 Louisiana $7,599 6 34 1,705,906 579,374 2,079,558 273,658 13 Illinois $7,510 10 30 7,520,266 2,237,486 6,692,847 891,141 14 Wisconsin $7,505 44 3 982,047 31,885 2,973,802 396,251 15 Maine $7,331 25 17 793,269 136,971 417,181 56,904 16 Maryland $7,294 22 18 1,556,470 278,797 2,041,851 279,945 17 Washington $7,253 32 14 1,855,819 268,146 1,893,814 261,114 18 Oklahoma $7,065 20 20 1,615,627 317,325 1,129,385 159,863 19 Nevada $6,941 43 4 1,463,564 55,477 592,151 85,311 20 Delaware $6,648 33 14 303,818 43,639 274,210 41,244 21 Ohio $6,335 4 43 5,567,388 2,401,535 7,640,216 1,206,108 22 Florida $6,299 45 3 5,389,438 155,261 4,646,186 737,553 23 West Virginia $6,289 31 15 747,520 111,940 505,681 80,412 24 Missouri $6,000 28 16 3,047,847 491,056 1,983,099 330,499 25 Colorado $5,887   NA -1,094,243 526,359 1,883,051 319,881 26 Kentucky $5,841 7 30 1,719,954 519,241 1,610,934 275,785 27 Minnesota $5,384 13 26 2,212,110 568,951 2,639,025 490,179 28 Texas $5,199 30 16 16,080,020 2,507,802 7,202,503 1,385,442 29 New Mexico $5,141 8 30 979,902 294,377 751,023 146,089 30 Arkansas $5,057 39 10 946,607 93,102 639,072 126,372 31 Tennessee $4,799 26 17 1,374,519 233,978 1,228,875 256,057 32 Georgia $4,640 34 14 3,828,686 540,686 2,431,482 523,981 33 Wyoming $4,498   NA -292,872 61,305 177,315 39,422 34 North Carolina $4,484   NA -1,012,944 915,639 2,405,401 536,457 35 Virginia $4,412 41 8 2,654,951 208,039 2,017,293 457,240 36 New Hampshire $4,378 3 49 245,007 119,603 252,447 57,658 37 Idaho $4,316 17 22 586,700 131,547 303,831 70,403 38 Utah $4,136 46 1 2,582,581 31,482 488,489 118,113 39 Iowa $4,096 35 14 1,475,483 207,264 838,491 204,701 40 South Carolina $4,072 29 16 2,953,924 465,892 1,424,869 349,909 41 South Dakota $3,945 18 22 379,329 83,386 191,481 48,542 42 Indiana $3,931 38 10 2,620,981 273,940 1,106,363 281,425 43 Arizona $3,898 2 54 527,659 283,296 1,431,583 367,274 44 Nebraska $3,874 5 38 331,031 126,512 283,745 73,239 45 Montana $3,837 11 29 424,986 122,363 295,685 77,066 46 Alabama $3,756 24 18 2,523,434 445,359 956,552 254,706 47 Mississippi $3,607 12 26 1,295,099 334,893 967,710 268,288 48 Kansas $3,599 1 56 412,270 231,310 687,049 190,885 49 North Dakota $3,591 14 25 153,423 38,080 123,416 34,370 50 Vermont $3,123 23 18 206,004 36,583 101,909 32,627   United States $6,930     147,747,004 28,843,747 122,306,460 17,649,702   N
07
Apr
2005
Ideas for major Medicaid reforms are "bubbling up around the country," and New York might learn from other states that provide high-quality care at lower cost, according to the Public Policy Institute's latest Medicaid Watch '05 briefing paper. The briefing paper, Other states move boldly to reform Medicaid; why shouldn't New York?, points to South Carolina and Florida as two states that are considering especially innovative approaches to taxpayer-funded health care
06
Apr
2005
New York’s state and local government employees collect higher retirement benefits while contributing less than those in other states, according to a Public Policy Institute analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. State and local government employees in New York collected an average $11,882 in 2003, some 42 percent above the national average, according to the Institute
05
Apr
2005
Despite per-pupil school spending that is the nation’s second highest, New York’s return on that investment is notably below average by two key measures of school success, recent research by the Manhattan Institute suggests. All 50 states’ academic outcomes were evaluated by two common and critical measures of school success, graduation rates and “college readiness” rates, according to the institute’s report, Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991–2002
04
Apr
2005
New York State falls behind many other states in national rankings of health, and must do more to analyze what its $45 billion Medicaid program does to improve quality of care, The Public Policy Institute's latest Medicaid Watch '05 report says. "Medicaid spending is higher in New York than anywhere else," the report says