Dive Brief:
- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed several healthcare initiatives, which collectively make up $79 billion, or more than half of the $142.1 billion budget for New York state.
- These initiatives include a $1.2 billion capital program to support health facilities and $95 million for a program to digitize patient records.
- One area in Gov. Cuomo's health plan was a provision to allow private equity investment in hospitals, a proposal which has run into determined resistance from some health officials and hospital workers, according to Capital Pro.
Dive Insight:
Gov. Cuomo's current budget, while setting some interesting goals, also makes some changes which some members of the healthcare community will find hard to take. For example, the plan to spend $95 million to digitize health records involves taking $30 million from the federal government's Medicaid program. That being said, given the crying needs the healthcare sector faces, it's good to see that the budget created by Gov. Cuomo takes them seriously.