New Yorks state-run institutions for the mentally disabled are billing the Medicaid program nearly $2 million per patient a year—a rate that goes far beyond the cost of caring for the patients and is attracting the scrutiny of federal regulators.
The state spends $700 million a year to house about 1,400 disabled people in the facilities. But it bills Medicaid more than three times that amount.
By taking advantage of federal matching funds, the state pockets approximately $1 billion extra every year—and uses it to subsidize other areas of the budget.
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