Hochul’s mad Medicaid spending is meant to woo health-industry honchos — on OUR dime

Gov. Hochul proposes to jack up state-funded portion of Medicaid by $6.4 billion , or 17% in a single year .

This comes on top of a combined 36% increase over her first three years as governor.

The state’s economy is growing, its unemployment rate is low, and the poverty rate has been trending down.

Its forces reward politicians who give them money while punishing those who dare to question the poor return on that investment. Hochul ’s Medicaid splurge isn’t buying better care for New Yorkers . It’s buying her a reprieve from the hospital lobby’s attack ads. Taxpayers can only imagine how much more expensive this strategy will get in 2026 , when she and the entire Legislature are up for re-election. Bill Hammond is the senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center ..