Cuts in Medicaid may mean billion-dollar loss to New York for training doctors

Changes to the Medicaid program backed by the Bush administration could cause New York City's public and private hospitals to lose more than $1 billion in state and federal funds for the training of doctors, according to an analysis. The change would end a revenue stream that the medical residencies rely on, and could have wide ramifications because New York hospitals train a large share of the nation's doctors. The city's Independent Budget Office analysis found that the proposed cut would cost the city's public hospitals about $390 million in federal and state funds, or about 7.5% of their overall budget. It would cost the city's private hospitals about $790 million, 4.4% of their total revenue.