Personal shopping and cleaning services for the disabled would be eliminated, weak hospitals could be merged and brand-name drugs would be limited under a series of budget-cutting proposals announced on Tuesday by the New York State Health Department.

Those proposals, among a list of 49 ideas that could save up to $4 billion, were submitted by the Health Department on Tuesday to a panel appointed this year by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The panel, known as the Medicaid Redesign Team, is charged with finding $2.85 billion in savings out of the state's $53 billion in spending on Medicaid, the joint state-federal health program for the poor and disabled.

The proposals are aimed at many sectors of the health care industry, including hospitals and pharmacies. Some could require state legislative or federal approval. But adopting even a small number of them - like moving more Medicaid patients into managed care - could mean major changes in the health care landscape.

Filed Under : Medicaid, Solutions