Medicaid is Yates County's largest program

Social Services Director Nancy Gates paints a vivid portrait of Medicaid, the largest program in Yates County and a difficult burden, she said, for the taxpayer. Gates presented a program for the Yates County Legislature at the Aug. 3 meeting.

The Medicaid program was signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon B.  Johnson. Gates says it was established for impoverished families with children, the elderly and childless with low income. In the 1990’s other recipients were added.

Medicaid in New York State costs $53 billion, which is more than the entire budgets in many states. Other states,

Gates says, don’t cover many services that New York does — podiatry, eye glasses, prosthetics, emergency methadone and hospice. New York State enrolls 20 percent of its population in Medicaid. The national average is 13 percent. “Every year counties are required to pay more.  Counties can’t really plan an amount in their budget. You provide the service and pay the bill,” Gates says.

As of 2006, the state has capped the counties’ share of Medicaid costs to relieve the pressure on property taxes.

“If the state lifts the cap, we will be paying the entire cost again,” said County Administrator Sarah Purdy, adding,

“We are all hopeful it will not happen,” Purdy said.

Mental Health is not covered by all states and in New York, it accounts for 22 percent of Medicaid spending.

“Medicaid is the highest single purchaser of health care in New York State, insuring more than four million people at a cost of over $50 million,” said NYS Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D. in a recent statement.

Gates reported that the State is talking about a five year plan for taking over the Medicaid program from the counties. “The mission,” Gates says, “is to open regional enrollment centers that would be staffed by our already trained employees.”

Purdy says in this plan, the burden of fraud will factor in. Local employees are more familiar with who they are dealing with, Purdy said.

New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) issued a Resolution, modified on Aug. 20, “In Support of Expanding the Medicaid Cap to Encompass a Complete State Takeover of the Local Share of Medicaid Costs to Ensure Further Property Tax Relief.”

NYSAC has also sent a Resolution to the Governor and State Legislature asking them to urge Congress to extend the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage (FMAP), established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Medicaid is a joint federal-state program providing assistance to eligible needy persons.

Gates says in Yates County, 19 percent of the population or 3,900 individuals are on Medicaid. Legislator Tim Dennis noted that some of this Medicaid money stays right in the county through services provided by local doctors, the hospital and nursing homes.

Gates touched on some other programs that help the low income population in Yates County.

Last year over 1,983 households participated in the HEAP Program, a 9.9 percent increase over the previous year.

Almost $4 million in Food Stamps pass through the county. Gates says 20 local stores now accept Food Stamps, which puts money back into local economy. In the last five years, the number of individuals on Food Stamps has risen by 31 percent. She talked about a program through Cornell Cooperative Extension that helps people with meal planning to get the most out of their Food Stamp dollars.

One program that did decrease in social services is the cash assistance caseload. Gates says more individuals and children are living with other family members. She also attributed the decline to the fact that Workforce Development is working with more people to assist with job skills.

Dennis praised the teamwork effort between Social Services and Workforce Development in helping people.
Chairman Taylor Fitch noted several volunteer efforts, “Milly’s Pantry Backpack Program, the Food Pantry, Christmas for the Needy are just some of the organizations that give a significant amount of time and money to help the poor in Yates County,” Fitch says.