In 2003, he said, the county's portion of Medicaid assistance, about 25 percent of the total cost, was $194 million.

An individual who gives away $36,000, for example, is ineligible for Medicaid assistance for 12 months.

The Mayor, for his part, is counting on Albany and Washington for about $600 million in Medicaid assistance over the next three years.

The city is often required to provide more expensive emergency relief, when a simpler court order for repairs to an apartment or a restoration of wrongfully denied Medicaid assistance would have sufficed.

The minor may still qualify for food stamps, a Federal program or Medicaid assistance and will be provided with food and shelter until the application is settled.

This legislation would waive the requirement that individuals can retain only a bare minimum of their assets before qualifying for Medicaid assistance.

In New York City, over two million people received some form of Medicaid assistance last year, according to State Health Department records.

Child care, transportation and Medicaid assistance would be provided.

Increase in Eligibility The Administration's proposal would raise the income level under which pregnant women and infants under the age of 1 qualify for Medicaid assistance.

This system represents a gaping hole in the public health network, thanks in part to the fact that prisoners become ineligible for Medicaid assistance while they're behind bars.