CHENANGO COUNTY – A call for New York State to restructure its Medicaid program is likely to appear as a resolution before the Chenango County Board of Supervisors at the board’s meeting in November.

A drafted resolution urging the restructuring of New York’s Medicaid program made its way to the table of the county’s Ag, Buildings and Grounds Committee last week. The draft stresses the impact that the state-facilited program has on Chenango’s local tax base, particularly farmers in the area.

The draft further notes that New York has the most expensive Medicaid program in the United States, but the state’s rural counties have lower per capita incomes to pay local Medicaid share. It also cites a disproportionate tax burden on economically disadvantaged rural counties to foot the local share for Medicaid.

Cornell Cooperative Extension Executive Director Ken Smith presented the draft resolution to committee members, saying that on a long list of unfunded mandates to the county, Medicaid has the greatest burdon for landowners.