Health Care Providers Directly in Harm’s Way as Legislature Tackles Budget Shortfall

TO:
Trustees

Last Friday, at a meeting with legislative leaders, Governor David Paterson announced that he has called the State Legislature back for a special session on November 18 to address the $1.2 billion current-year budget shortfall resulting from the economic crisis on Wall Street. The Governor has asked leaders to find $2 billion in savings in the upcoming special session. The Senate, Assembly, and Comptroller are expected to release their own revenue projections on November 5.

The Governor also announced that he will move up the start of the state budget process and deliver his Executive Budget on December 16--a month earlier than usual budget presentations.

The Governor and legislative leaders have indicated that cuts would come from all sides of the budget. We can certainly expect that they will attempt to cut deeply into Medicaid and provider reimbursements. We will again need the aggressive grassroots advocacy of health care trustees to protect the vital services your facilities provide to your community.

Over the next month, I will provide you with additional details and information about how you can help. In the meantime, please discuss this latest development with your board to help prepare for the grassroots advocacy that will be needed.