$100 Million Medicaid Subsidy Is Largely Misused: Study

New York spends more than $100 million marketing Medicaid to the state's low-income and poor residents.

A new Health Department study shows that most of that money is illegally misused by HMOs who utilize the funds to steal patients from competitors, rather than attracting the uninsured.

"Marketing costs are largely spent by health plans to attract members of other plans," the study finds. "They do not focus on enrolling the uninsured."

The New York Post reports that health officials are using the data to suggest that the $113.6 million subsidy should be cut from the budget.

About 84 percent of the state's Medicaid-eligible residents are already enrolled in the program.

Gov. Cuomo is looking for ways to cut funding for the state's $50 billion Medicaid program in order to close New York's $10 billion budget deficit. The Health Department study suggests that scrapping the program would actually save $57 million.