Governor Andrew Cuomo is decrying a decision by the administration of President Donald Trump to deny the state a health care grant that the governor says is all about retribution politics.
In 2014, New York received an $8 billion federal grant for the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program, which Cuomo says saved money because it transitioned many health care services from expensive hospitals to community-based health care systems.
The governor says he was told over the weekend that the grant, worth $600 million this fiscal year and for the next four years, is cancelled. The governor says the elderly and the poor, whether they are Democrats or Republicans, will be hurt the most.
“Why you would want to play politics with someone’s health care is just beyond me,” Cuomo said. “They have no limits whatsoever.”
The governor says it’s just the latest in what he calls a long list of federal “horribles” lately, including denying New Yorkers access to the Trusted Traveler Programs to expedite border crossings, denying FEMA aid for areas in the Mohawk Valley affected by the Halloween floods, and delaying a decision on approving congestion pricing for New York City.
