A coalition of Rochester state legislative leaders, hospital representatives, and healthcare advocates and workers held a press conference February 5 at University of Rochester Medical Center’s Strong Memorial Hospital to urge Governor Kathy Hochul to fully fund Medicaid Health Insurance and to increase funding for safety net hospitals and nursing homes across the state.
In Monroe County, nearly a third of residents rely on Medicaid for their healthcare. Even though Medicaid provides vital health insurance coverage to these New Yorkers, the state pays hospitals 30% less than the actual cost of care hospitals provide. Without sufficient funding, many hospitals, such as URMC’s Strong Memorial Hospital, cannot invest in programs or infrastructure that benefit the patients and communities they serve. In the Rochester region in particular, hospitals and nursing homes continue to face overcrowding and bed shortage due to the persistent underfunding of Medicaid.
The February 5 press conference builds on the growing coalition of New Yorkers pressing Governor Hochul to end the Medicaid funding crisis. Last week, faith leaders from across the state rallied at the Capitol as over 200 faith leaders signed on to a letter calling on the Governor to end the Medicaid funding crisis. Last month, a majority of Democratic legislators in New York pledged to support fully funding Medicaid. In early January, Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) President Ken Raske and 1199SEIU President George Gresham rallied at the Capitol with Albany leaders, healthcare workers, and patients in support of legislation that would increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate.
“This funding gap contributes to unacceptable racial disparities in health outcomes, overwhelms hospitals and nursing homes that are already facing chronic understaffing, and puts vulnerable patients and residents at risk, Governor Hochul,” said Tracey Harrison, 1199SEIU Vice-President for Rochester/Corning. “If we continue to starve Medicaid-funded services, we will never maintain or grow the services or workforce providing healthcare in our state.”
“If we are waiting for a rainy day, if we were waiting on a crisis to come – we are here to say, it is pouring and we are in that crisis,” said New York State Senator Samra G. Brouk, Chair of Committee on Mental Health. “We have no choice but to actually fill the gap this year and let New Yorkers know that they no longer have to pay the price for lack of funding for our healthcare system.”
“When we have improved healthcare systems in our community, we all win,” said New York Assemblymember Demond Meeks. “We should not have to come back here year after year, advocating for needed resources in healthcare – this should simply be part of the state budget,” said Assemblymember Meeks.
“While nearly every cost of running a hospital continues to rise, the executive budget goes in the opposite direction. Gov. Hochul has proposed more than $1.3 billion in reductions to health providers,” said Kathy Parrinello, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Strong Memorial Hospital.
“Our region’s hospitals and nursing homes can no longer do more with less. Rochester and the Finger Lakes have the lowest number of inpatient beds per capita than any region in the state, far below the national average. We’ve lost approximately 1,500 staffed nursing home beds since 2020,” added Parrinello.
“Guaranteeing that Medicaid reimbursement rates will no longer drive financial losses for hospitals and nursing homes providing health care to our most vulnerable New Yorkers is long overdue,” said New York State Assemblymember Harry Bronson. “My delegation colleagues and I are pushing for funding in the NYS budget that will increase Medicaid rates to support our safety-net hospitals, nursing homes and especially their front-line workers. We value our partnerships with 1199SEIU, the URMC and the Greater New York Hospital Association and urge Governor Hochul to help our hospital and long-term care workers and patients by raising reimbursement rates in this year’s budget,” said Assemblymember Bronson who could not attend the press conference.
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