In a move just days before Election Day that boosts a powerful union ally, Gov. Cuomo has quietly increased Medicaid rates to hospitals and nursing homes, according to a report Friday.
The state Health Department notified the public of a 2 percent hike for hospitals and 1.5 percent nursing homes on page 90 of Thursday’s New York State Register.
There was no other announcement.
The increase will benefit thousands of workers represented by the hospital workers union, Service Employees Union Local 1199, which endorsed Cuomo for a third term months earlier this year.
The Empire Center’s Bill Hammond, who first spotted the rate hike notice, said it was a “replay of the notorious” election year deal that former Gov. George Pataki inked in 2002 with the same union — which endorsed the governor for re-election that year.
A memo circulated by LeadingAge, a coalition of nursing home providers, said the increase will be financed from $2 billion the state received to approve the sale of Fidelis Care to Centene.
Cuomo’s Republican opponent, Marc Molinaro, said the deal smells.
“The nefariousness with which this deal was done is shocking even by Andrew Cuomo’s standards. It is government at its darkest and most selfish, and it must end on Tuesday,” Molinaro said.
The Republican-led state Senate complained that Cuomo acted unilaterally.
Said Senate GOP spokesman Scott Reif, “There are provider needs in every region of the state, yet the governor appears to have focused this money primarily toward New York City. This issue requires a broader discussion from all of the parties, including Senate Republicans, so we can drive resources in a way that is more equitable and more fair.”
Cuomo’s office defended the increases.
State Budget Director Robert Mujica said the Medicaid reimbursement rates hadn’t been raised since 2006.
Under the budget deal reached earlier this year with the Legislature, Mujica said money from the $2 billion Fidelis sales has to be invested into health care.
The rate increases are worth $160 million.
“The best way to get that money into the health care is do a straight rate increase [to all hospitals and nursing homes[,” he said.
He said the increases were not targeted to reward any particular union.
SEIU 1199 president George Gresham praised Cuomo’s action.
“New York’s hospitals and nursing homes have not seen a Medicaid rate increase in over ten years, placing a strain on institutions already struggling to treat the most vulnerable populations in the face of rising costs,” Gresham said in a statement.