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Greene County looking to be reimbursed for Medicaid costs

Aug 19, 2021 6:00 am

Sam Raudins is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that the Greene County Legislature is preparing to ask the state of New York for nearly $730,000 in reimbursements for certain Medicaid expenditures made over a four-year period. According to a resolution approved by the Legislature’s Finance and County Services committees, the Affordable Care Act requires the federal government to pay a portion of Medicaid costs back to individual counties. The state Department of Health estimates the reimbursement earned by each county, through benefits paid out on behalf of its Medicaid clients. The last time the DOH reported the reconciliation was in 2015, and the estimated amount of just under $730,000, is the county’s own calculation. “The bottom line is it’s owed to us,” Legislature Chair Patrick Linger said. In the resolution, the county calls on the state to pay out what is owned. Linger said the county has fronted the cost. “We’re a pretty small county, and over the last four years — add it all up,” Linger said. Mark LaVigne, deputy director of the New York state Association of Counties, said this issue is affecting counties statewide and several counties have passed similar resolutions. “It’s close to a billion dollars in funds that have not been transferred to the counties,” he said. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.