The first will be last, and the last first: New York to Lead States in Extra Medicare Payments (go figure)

From The New York Times:

Members of Congress from Iowa, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin secured extra money in the new health care law to reward low-cost hospitals in their states, which they said had long been underpaid by Medicare.

But it now turns out that New York will get more of the money than any other state, and some of the chief proponents of the bonus payments will not receive any.

The Obama administration recently disclosed how it planned to distribute the money, $400 million over the next two years, and the result was not exactly what Congress or hospital lobbyists had expected.

An analysis of the data by The New York Times shows that New York hospitals are in line to receive nearly 12 percent of the money ($46.3 million), which is more than hospitals in any other state.