An Important message
about Health Care from...

Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton


Assemblywoman
Barbara Lifton
is fighting for
quality health care


“The governor’s budget asks us to pay more for health care and, in turn, receive poorer care. This is no way to balance the budget and I will again fight the governor’s wrong choices.”


For more information on the governor’s proposal,
please contact my office.


Assemblywoman Lifton
is working to protect our quality of life

Governor’s budget asks us to pay more for less health care

Governor’s health care cuts will hurt Tompkins County seniors

The governor tried to cut health care last year by $2 billion before the bi-partisan legislature stopped him. This year, the governor is repeating many of his wrong choices by proposing more cuts, including:

  • $1.1 billion in cuts to Medicaid, which means a loss of 34,600 jobs and decreased health care coverage for the elderly and disabled

  • $60 million from the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) – cuts that would drive pharmacies out of the program and make prescription drugs less available to seniors

  • a “sick tax” on hospitals, nursing homes and home health care agencies that will cost providers $429 million and does nothing to address the critical nurse shortage already facing New York’s hospitals. This “sick tax” would cost local providers more than $2 million – a cost that could force our area’s second largest industry to cut jobs and eliminate vital services.


Fighting for local Medicaid relief

The governor’s local Medicaid relief proposal doesn’t go far enough, saving counties only $24 million in the next fiscal year – less than one percent of their Medicaid bill. The Assembly has a record of improving health care without asking local governments to pay the price.

Last year, the Assembly passed a law that provided Medicaid relief for localities across the state. For Tompkins County, the relief meant more than $1.17 million in savings. The Assembly has also advanced plans for the state to assume a larger portion of Medicaid and Family Health Plus, but the governor repeatedly opposed those plans, forcing local taxpayers statewide to pick up nearly $1 billion in Medicaid costs.

Improving services for rural seniors

Because rural communities face unique challenges in providing necessary health and social services to seniors, Lifton introduced legislation (A.9671) that would:

  • Provide training in elderly support services, such as recreation, income assistance, transportation, wellness education, long-term home health care, supportive housing and institutional care, to front-line health care and social workers

  • Help rural communities establish networks between one another – helping them share information and training to continue improving senior services

Helping deliver quality, affordable health care

Last year, Assemblywoman Lifton helped enact a bi-partisan budget over the governor’s vetoes that:

  • Provided nearly $500,000 in restorations for Cayuga Medical Center

  • Rejected the proposal to increase Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage fees and deductibles by 10 percent

  • Restored $27 million the governor wanted to take from the pockets of state retirees and employees for higher health premiums

  • Rejected the governor’s proposed “sick tax” on hospitals and other health care providers

Ensuring quality nursing home and hospital care

Lifton also sponsored a bill that:

  • Gives the public information on nursing staffing levels and forbids anyone but registered nurses and licensed practical nurses from describing themselves as nurses (A.5591; passed Assembly 3/8/04)

  • Provides information about patient complications like medication errors, bed sores, and urinary tract infections – key indicators of quality nursing care



Assemblywoman
Barbara Lifton
106 East Court Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
607-277-8030 • liftonb@assembly.state.ny.us
Back