Lt. Gov. calls for overhaul of costly Medicaid

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last Updated: 1:18 PM, September 20, 2010
Posted: 1:18 PM, September 20, 2010

ALBANY, N.Y. — Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch says the state must cut fraud, massive waste and duplication in the state’s Medicaid system,
which serves nearly one out of every four New Yorkers.

His plan released Monday calls for a state takeover of the health insurance program first created to serve only welfare recipients,
but which the Legislature has expanded to cover the working poor and to subsidize hospitals for caring for the uninsured. Currently,
counties pay for some of the cost.

Ravitch says the Medicaid system is not administered in the most rational or cost-effective way.

He says the state should also create new director to control costs.

Medicaid consumes a third of the state budget.

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