Rochester Business Journal

The U.S. Senate’s health care reform bill will add to the cost of health insurance rather than reducing costs for New York employers and residents, officials from the Business Council of New York State Inc. said Monday.

“Throughout the legislative process, the Business Council has called on New York’s representatives to look at health care reform through a New York lens,” council president and CEO Kenneth Adams said in a statement Monday. “This bill instead hurts New Yorkers.”

The Senate bill will increase Medicaid coverage and reimbursement for the rest of the nation but leave New Yorkers, whose generous Medicaid program already meets those thresholds, footing the bill,” Adams said.

The bill will cost New York more than $1 billion annually and create a shortfall of as much as $400 million in the state’s current financial plan, Gov. David Paterson said in a statement Saturday.

“New York’s overburdened taxpayers cannot fill those gaps,” Adams said.

Paterson said while he was pleased the Senate’s weekend agreement on reforms should benefit 2.5 million uninsured New Yorkers, it worsens an already inequitable situation for New York.

“The bill worsens an already bad situation by retroactively taking away federal Medicaid assistance provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” Paterson said.

New York sent $55.6 billion more to Washington, D.C., in 2008 than it received, a greater disparity than any other state, Paterson said.

“While I fully support the federal health care reform, it should be done in a way that treats states equitably,” Paterson said. “I urge our delegation to insist on changes to treat New York fairly during the Conference Committee process.”

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