Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), a longtime proponent of meaningful health insurance reform, announced that, due to the intense involvement of the New York House Delegation, New York State will see considerable benefit from the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act. In particular, New York State will not be penalized for its already progressive Medicaid health program, and will now see a net gain of $2.1 billion over the Senate-passed health insurance bill.

Nadler issued the following statement:

“I am particularly proud that we in the New York State House Delegation, after considerable fighting and intense negotiation, were able to save New York State billions of dollars by dramatically altering the Medicaid financing provisions within the health insurance package. Instead of costing New York State $779 million and punishing us for taking a more progressive stance in the Medicaid system, as was directed by the Senate-passed health insurance bill, the Delegation has successfully added provisions to instead save the State $1.3 billion in costs. Providing a net gain of $2.1 billion is a critical improvement to the legislation and will mean a great deal for balancing our State’s budget. In addition, we were able to reduce the amount of cuts to disproportionate share hospitals by $7 billion. This will help New York hospitals as they continue to care for the un- and under-insured.”