Levy: Cap local Medicaid expenses

Gubernatorial candidate Steve Levy yesterday called for a "hard" cap on the local share of Medicaid expenses, saying it's Albany's responsibility to shoulder the burden for the continuing growth in costs for that program.

"New Yorkers pay for the most expensive Medicaid program in the country - more than twice the national average," Levy, the Suffolk County executive, said in unveiling a long list of proposals to fix Medicaid, which he called "the most daunting fiscal problem facing the state and local governments."

With a cost expected to be more than $53 billion over the next year, New York's Medicaid program is the most expensive in the nation, exceeding the total budgets of 43 other states, he said.

Levy also called for using what he called "data-driven" strategies to identify ways to control spending. He noted that an analysis done with modern data-mining software had identified 832 Medicaid recipients who used the emergency room more than 13 times in the past year, frequently for complaints like headaches and upset stomach.

"Everyone knows that controlling costs is not your highest priority when you shop with someone else's credit card," he said.

Levy had scheduled a Manhattan news conference to announce the proposals, but instead spoke with reporters via speakerphone because he was stuck in traffic.

The campaign of Levy's primary GOP rival, former Rep. Rick Lazio, responded by pointing to Lazio's own policy agenda released last week, which included a call for stricter Medicaid means testing and greater investigatory powers for the state to reduce fraud and abuse.

Lazio also calls for "cutting edge incentive programs" to reduce utilization, such as patient spending accounts and preventive care rewards. But while Levy was critical of unused Medicaid managed care programs, Lazio advocates putting more patients into the program, calling it a thriftier way to provide care.