Medicaid Cap

Don't know if this is earth-shatteringly good news or not, but it's a start.

The State Legislature has agreed to put a three point five percent cap on how much counties have to pay for the health care program for the poor. Erie County Executive Joel Giambra has repeatedly blamed the high cost of Medicaid for the county's budget problems. Giambra called the agreement "a partial victory" for his joint effort with other county executives to seek Medicaid reform.

The leg says that it'll then be up to the counties to control costs, to which HRH Joel I replies that the counties just do what Albany says. Which is true. But it seems to me they can do what Albany says more efficiently and with less waste. This'll nick $15 million off of the 2006 budget.