Cuomo Targets Medicaid Spending

ALBANY—Gov. Andrew Cuomo is aiming to reduce the state's Medicaid spending by billions of dollars, exceeding the size of cuts to the program proposed in past years, according to individuals with knowledge of his budget.
The Cuomo administration is considering a cut of about $2.1 billion out of the state's projected spending on Medicaid in the upcoming fiscal year. With federal matching funds, the cut comes to more than $4 billion. That's close to twice the reduction in spending proposed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2007.
Such a cut would effectively freeze Medicaid spending at the current year's level. But because the state is set to receive far less in federal funds, as the stimulus expires, its share of Medicaid costs would still grow by more than $3 billion, a 30% increase.