Rochester, N.Y. – Yessenia Troche and her son need glasses. They went to the Anthony Jordan Health Center, where 70 percent of the patients are poor and on Medicaid.
“If I couldn't come here, I wouldn't have anywhere else to go, because my doctors are here at Jordan,” Troche said.
“If they cut the services, there's a lot of people that wouldn't have anywhere to go. They need this resource here,” Troche said.
New York is one of few states offering eye care to Medicaid patients. The state’s county executives, crushed by growing Medicaid expenses, recommended to the governor that optometry, adult dental and podiatry services be scaled back or eliminated.
The federal government considers those services “optional.” The suggestions were contained in a
mandate relief report compiled by the New York State Association of Counties.
Erie County Executive Chris Collins, speaking out against the cost of Medicaid, suggested last month that all poor people could afford eyeglasses.
New York spends more on Medicaid that any other state, even though it is not the most populous. Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed cutting more than $2 billion from Medicaid, but hasn't provided specifics. He is waiting to hear back from a panel commissioned to find savings.
“I don't know anyone who would consider their eyesight to be optional,” said Dr. Bridgette Wiefling, who runs Jordan.
Dr. Wiefling said cutting preventative care would lead to costly emergency room visits. She said the proposal would be devastating to her patients.
“Our patients are not choosing between getting eyeglasses and buying a house or a car. They're choosing between getting food on the table and buying glasses,” she said.
But counties say Medicaid is a huge burden. In Monroe County, more than 130,000 people are on Medicaid. More than 100 county employees help administer the $151 million program. Forty cents of every sales tax dollar goes to support Medicaid.
Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks is among the county executives calling for reform and is on the governor’s Medicaid panel. She said at a hearing last month, “The underlying message is Medicaid is important to the people who need it. Counties want to be at the table to help redesign the program so it's cost effective, as well as effective in serving people."
“New York State is in a budget crisis for a whole lot more reasons than podiatry or optometry or dental,” said Dr. Wiefling. She said the state should focus on Medicaid’s administrative costs and most expensive programs.
