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Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn
CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA/Shutterstock
Hospital groups and health equity advocates are celebrating now that the upcoming state budget does not include the broad cuts to health care spending initially proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Those changes would have disproportionately impacted safety-net hospitals, which serve communities that were hardest hit by COVID-19.
When Cuomo released his executive budget in January, he anticipated a $15 billion shortfall over the next two years. He sought to fill part of the gap by slashing about $600 million in health care spending. His proposals included a 1% reduction in Medicaid rates and cuts to state subsidies for already-struggling safety-net hospitals that serve low-income New Yorkers.