NY Medicaid losses may force big doctor training cuts

If an expected moratorium on Medicaid cuts expires next week, it's looking like the state of New York's public and private hospitals will lose upwards of $1 billion in state and federal funds for physician training, according to an analysis by New York city's Independent Budget Office. The change, as proposed by CMS, would end revenue that medical residency programs have relied on for decades. It could have a meaningful impact nationally, too, as New York hospitals have traditionally trained a large number of the nation's doctors, including many who eventually work in poor neighborhoods during their residencies.

In 2006, 40 percent of all Medicaid funds for medical training in the U.S., or $1.36 billion, went to the state of New York. About 15 percent of all U.S. medical residencies, or 16,500, are done in New York state. However, CMS officials said this week that the funds were never intended to pay for medical education, but rather, that states had diverted them to this purpose.

To learn more about the medical training funding gap:
- read this article from The New York Times