New York, NY —

In a rare joint statement, Gov. David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg addressed an open letter to New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, urging them to change the current health-care reform bill under consideration in Congress.

In the letter, Paterson and Bloomberg say proposed changes to federal funding could cost New York billions of dollars, overshadowing any potential benefits.

The Senate health care reform bill would expand insurance coverage for the poor, but it also seeks to reduce spending. Paterson and Bloomberg say the cost-cutting would disproportionately hurt New York, where Medicaid benefits are already generous and where hospitals already spend more on low-income and undocumented patients than hospitals in the rest of the country.