Albany, NY – Republican candidate for governor Carl Paladino says he wants to cut the Medicaid health care program for the poor in New York by $20 billion.
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Paladino says the nearly $52 billion program which has grown to be the most expensive in the nation because of optional services approved by lawmakers at the urging to the powerful health care lobby.
He says Monday he wants to eliminate services, fraud and abuse to bring spending in line with California, which spends half as much per capita as New York.
Democrat Andrew Cuomo also wants to overhaul Medicaid, focused on making it more efficient. He would have the state take over its administration of the system from counties and pool state and local pharmaceutical buying power to force lower prices.
Cuomo has no dollar target, but proposes several ways to achieve savings.
No I know whom I am NOT going to vote for.
With OBAMACARE who need Medicaid anymore!!
Medicare abuse is more serious. I would cut medicare services for the elderly. Every doctors office has an ambulate that drives around these old people to every specialist for tests and physical therapy for massages that cos the system tens of millions. Old people should sit home on pain killers, no message and rehab is going to save them when you’re 80 years old. Doctors just milk the system because they know they can.
The ambulette business sems to be the growth industry in Brooklyn judging by the number of these I see. Most of the trips could be made just as well by car service.
The largest part of the NY’s Medicaid cost is for nursing homes, much of it covering the expenses of the middle class elderly who’ve either exhaused or given away their assetts.
Almost every kollel family that I know has Medicaid, so Paladino’s proposed cuts would effect our own community.
The sad thing about Paladino’s statements is that time and time again he makes it clear that he knows very little about NY State government, the componants of the budget, it’s agencies and he has trouble understanding the different levels of government, City, State, and Federal.
To #3 You do not know what you are talking about. Wait until you are in your 90’s and have to go to the dr. and cannot go because there is NO ambulette. That’s right!! NO AMBULETTE!! The Russians get all the services right, left and center, but chas v’shalom if you filed a 1040 for over 55 – 60 years here untilthe IRS told you your income was too low, please do not file, and you are not entitled to an ambulette because you are not RUSSIAN!! You have to hire somebody to take you to the dr. and back!! No easy feat for a person over 90 in a wheelchair!! When you are old, I wonder if you will say the same thing. I wonder how your children will treat you!!
It is advisable that those young men who are so eager to cut medicare and medicaid would consult with their bubbies and zadies first before making their haughty pronouncements.
The effect of these proposed cuts would be catastrophic.
The cuts would place the New York Medicaid program out of compliance with federal regulations, which means that New York would forfeit $26 billion in federal funds. That loss plus Paladino’s $20 billion cut would reduce Medicaid from $52 billion to $6 billion. Most hospitals in New York City would close, putting tens of thousands of New Yorkers out of work and making health care inaccessible for everyone. Without the hospitals, the medical schools in New York City would close, putting thousands more out of work and forfeiting additional hundreds of millions of dollars that funds potentially lifesaving medical research, and increasing the physician shortage. Paladino’s health care plan: Don’t get sick. Ever.
And that is without even considering his plan to force all poor or unemployed New Yorkers into work camps. With over 8% unemployment, we are talking about rounding up over eight hundred thousand New Yorkers — a massive ethnic cleansing reminiscent of certain actions that occurred in the 1940s. The cost of this horrific scheme would be far more than Medicaid.
The man is truly a menace to society.
Oh you stupid liberals in NY are in for a rough ride after you elect Prince Cuomo as your next governor. He will spend and spend and spend and tax and tax and tax and spend some more.
At this point just about ANYONE is better than ANY democrat hands down! In this case, Paladino is BETTER than ANY democrat!
#9 Mark Levin,
Anyone?
Like Jim Russell, the man the Republicans nominated to run against Nita Lowey in New York’s 18th Congressional District? He is an open racist and anti-Semite whose writing has been featured on the web site of none other than David Duke. Among other things, he has expressed the importance of controlling the growth in the Jewish population.
This is worse than anything that Yehuda Levin’s buddy Patrick Buchanan harasha has ever written!
New York’s Republican leaders have disavowed Russell. I invite you to do the same here and endorse Lowey over this rasha.
#9 I hope you do not take any money from your parents and grandparentsbecause they are going to need every cent they have and they will probably come back to you for the money they “lent” you!! G-d help us if Paladino gets in!!
Firstly I have nigious being that I own an Ambulette company, That being said:
Ambulette’s are NOT the problem, The problem is the short term and long term stays in hospitals at $2500 + per day. So what happens is an elderly sick person on Medicaid that can’t get to the doctor because he can’t afford transportation, gets more and more sick until he ends up taking an ambulance to the hospital . Ambulette’s come in as a net cost saving service, it’s called preventative care. Ambulette’s allow these people to go regularly to their doctors and therapy and keeps them as healthy as possible.
I’m not saying the system is not broken but don’t start with ambulettes, start with hospitals and end with ambulettes. Also an FYI the entire NYC ambulette bill is under 200mil. The reason for that low number, is that they are run by private companies that know how to stretch a buck, unlike the MTA versionof Access A Ride which costs 10 times that.