The Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) today announced the winner of its annual Prize for Public Service Innovation, which celebrates creative thinking and government achievement, is the Medicaid Redesign Team, whose initiatives have transformed the State's Medicaid program into a national model by containing costs and putting patients first.

"In 2011, New York was facing a serious budget crisis, with the Medicaid program accounting for one-third of the budget and growing at an unmanageable rate," said Citizens Budget Commission President Carol Kellermann. "Today, thanks to the work of the Medicaid Redesign Team, the State's Medicaid program has become a national model by cutting costs and improving quality of care for Medicaid members."

The Medicaid Redesign Team, created by Governor Cuomo in 2011, brought health care industry leaders together to come up with innovative new ideas to restructure New York's Medicaid Program to better serve the public. They held public hearings across New York State and generated a 78-point agenda, which was approved by the Legislature and incorporated into the enacted 2011-2012 budget.

Additionally, they established 10 work groups to focus on pursuing comprehensive reform and brought together more than 175 additional health care stakeholders to share their expertise in development of a multiyear action plan. Over the past few years, a total of more than 400 initiatives have been launched, which have improved transparency, lead to better quality of care for Medicaid members, and helped control costs for taxpayers.

These efforts paved the way for federal approval of an $8 billion reinvestment of savings incurred by MRT initiatives, which will support providers in New York in transforming the state's health care system through a Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program and other investments in health care delivery redesign.

The collaborative approach of the MRT, and the resulting initiatives and MRT Action Plan, serve as an example of how city and state agencies can come up with innovative solutions in the future. 6.1 million New Yorkers benefit directly as members of the Medicaid program, and performance metrics indicate that New York Medicaid is on track to reduce avoidable hospital use, improve population health, and engage Medicaid members in their care.

Additionally, CBC gives an Honorable Mention for the Prize for Public Service Innovation to the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), Division of State Government Accountability (SGA): Smart Audit.

Four years ago, OSC SGA launched Smart Audit, a strategic initiative built on the belief that by integrating subject matter expertise, partnerships, and better use of data and technology into the audit process, auditors can work smarter - better target risks, improve the efficiency of audit work, and ultimately produce a greater return on investment of tax dollars. The totality of these features serves to improve government by ferreting out fraud, waste, and abuse; strengthen government operations; and hold government officials to greater accountability and transparency standards. To date, these audits cumulatively have identified more than $65 million in recommended disallowances and resulted in 13 arrests, 9 convictions, and $17.85 million in court-ordered restitution.