After Tuesday's county press conferences to pressure the state on Medicaid, I was hoping that Pataki might reply to these problems in the State of the State.
As the Ithaca Journal's editorial page notes, he mentioned these problems, but didn't offer any detailed answers. Answers to such things will have to come in the budget, if they come at all, it seems. Pataki's comments on the subject were limited to:
While Medicaid has played an important role in our achievements, we are now faced with a Medicaid program that is quickly outstripping our ability to afford it.
Clearly, we need to improve the Medicaid system. We must start by providing our growing population of aging citizens with the quality healthcare they need while preserving the system for their children and grandchildren.
And we must address Medicaid costs borne by local governments. Senator Bruno has already identified this as an important issue. Senator, I commend your initiative. Let's work together to reduce state and local Medicaid expenses this year and begin to reverse the costs that have squeezed the finances of so many county governments.
The Journal also has a rundown on responses to the address from local lawmakers.
You can also see or read the entire speech at the governor's site; the HTML version is simplest to read from here.
I guess I won't be counting on any reductions in county taxes next year, but maybe Albany's at least noticed and it won't get worse... or not!
Posted by simonstl at January 8, 2004 05:00 PM