Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on the announcement that New York State has finalized the terms and conditions of the $8 billion Medicaid Waiver, which will allow for investments in Brooklyn’s safety-net hospitals and the development of primary care clinics in our neighborhoods.

Delivery System Reform Incentive Payments account for most – $6.42 billion – of the waiver. These payments are provided to hospitals that have developed methods of cost-effectively improving results for their patients, for example, by reducing unnecessary re-admissions to the hospital or visits to the emergency room. The waiver also includes $500 million for the transition to more efficient systems of providing health care, and another $1 billion to support health care in the home, and investment in long-term care, health care workers, and improved services for behavioral health.

“With the Medicaid Waiver, we have an opportunity to create incentives that will both improve the quality of our health and reduce increases in the cost of medical services.” Said Congresswoman Clarke, who with her New York State colleagues in the House of Representatives had  supported the approval of the Medicaid Waiver by the Department of Health and Human Services. “We have a responsibility to build on the foundation we already have in Brooklyn, with some of the best hospitals and the most dedicated doctors, nurses, and other professionals in the world.”

Congresswoman Clarke added that the Medicaid Waiver will allow New York State to expand access to health care for the hundreds of thousands of people who were previously uninsured but today have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

“New York State developed a health insurance marketplace that has worked even better than expectations, as the number of people enrolled substantially exceeds initial estimates. We must maintain our efforts to expand access to health care to every person in New York State. With the Medicaid Waiver, we have the resources to continue this work.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.