New York Governor Directs Health Department to Review Medicaid Day Care Benefit

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approves and helps fund the Medicaid social adult day care benefit in New York. However, Governor Kathy Hochul has directed the state Department of Health to consider ending the benefit. The benefit, which provides daytime supervision and care for about 45,000 Medicaid members, is estimated to cost over $500 million annually. This directive follows a crackdown on providers suspected of fraud.

The social adult day care benefit is a major component of New York’s Medicaid managed long-term care program. The potential elimination of this benefit, combined with ongoing fraud investigations, impacts the state's significant annual expenditure on healthcare services.