Empire State madness: Medicaid blob keeps growing

Between Medicaid and the state’s Essential Plan, 8.5 million New Yorkers enjoy taxpayer-supported health coverage “for the poor” — but more than a third, 3 million, earn too much too qualify, reports the Empire Center.That’s roughly $20 billion a year in excess and potentially fraudulent spending, fostered by the progressive political class’ belief that the more people signed up, the better.The center’s Bill Hammond identified the mismatch by simply comparing the known enrollment numbers with the Census report on New York income levels.Created in the 1960s to serve the truly poor, the state-federal Medicaid program has gradually expanded to cover those with somewhat higher incomes; with its Essential Plan, New York aims to enroll anyone up to 250% of the poverty line.

But the state’s been beyond careless in policing enrollment.As of this September, 44% of the Empire State’s population is covered — 20 points above the national average and seven points above the closest state.That includes 60% of New York City residents.The mismatch has been building over the years, Hammond finds: Over-enrollment reached 1.6 million in 2019, then zoomed to 3.6 million, thanks to Democrats’ ban on checking eligibility during the pandemic.Yet the state’s failure to check since that rule expired still has the excess at about 3.4 million.The impact isn’t just having taxpayers cover bills they shouldn’t: Because these programs reimburse providers at well below market rates, hospitals and so on make up the gap by charging even more to those with private insurance.That is, this boosts bills for everyone else.

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Never miss a story.And Hammond notes that enrollment in state-sponsored coverage is up 3.7 million over the last decade, even as Ne...