A new study finds New York is an outlier in more ways than one when it comes to health care spending.
The latest analysis from The Pew Charitable Trusts “Fiscal 50” series looked at state economic trends over a period of 15 years.
The state is consistently among the top Medicaid spenders in the U.S. Still, it is one of only two states that has spent a smaller portion of its revenue on Medicaid in recent years.
“Even as Medicaid spending increased, revenue increased even more — grew even faster,” says Matt McKillop, officer with the Pew Charitable Trusts, author of the report that analyzed data from 2000 through 2015.
McKillop found that in fiscal year 2015 — compared to fiscal year 2000 — New York spent 0.1 cent less of every dollar on Medicaid. That decrease, McKillop says, is significant because it impacts the overall state budget.
“Medicaid’s claim on each revenue dollar affects the share of state resources available for other priorities, which would include education, transportation, public safety, et cetera,” McKillop says.
McKillop also looked at tax trends and suggested that the decrease in revenue share toward Medicaid spending is related to increase in tax revenue.
“If you compare New York to the 50 states as a whole, its tax revenue has grown faster since the peak of the recession than the 50 states as a whole,” McKillop said.
