Eliot Spitzer just nominated James G. Sheehan to serve as New York State Medicaid Inspector General. Medicaid is the state's most expensive program, and Spitzer's effort to reduce the cost of the program led to a bruising budget fight with health care groups who engaged in a highly nasty exchange of negative ads against Read More
The state budget isn't finalized, but agreements on key fronts were announced last night: $350 in health care spending was restored (coupled with federal matching funds will bring a few more million to the health care industry here). Eliot Spitzer still gets to claim $1 billion in Medicaid spending cuts, namely from health insurance Read More
This doesn't bode well for an on-time budget. At what was supposed to be a bipartisan, bicameral meeting in Albany just now to discuss the state budget, only Republicans showed up. Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno said that his conference would work through the weekend with Democrats to reconcile differences in Medicaid spending, school aide Read More
Charlie Rangel, who said he doesn't want to see the debate about Medicaid spending turn into a "food fight," seemed ready for one on Saturday in Long Island City, where he was awarded the the Kung Hwa Medal by the Korean government. [Photo credit: Grace Meng.] -- Azi Paybarah
Eliot Spitzer's claims about the reasons for high Medicaid costs are called into doubt. A poll conducted by a group opposing Spitzer's health care plan say the governor's popularity has dropped 21 percent. Bills to restore Spitzer's proposed reductions in Medicaid spending were introduced in the state legislature. On health care, Republicans Read More
Representative Charlie Rangel just called now to explain his strident and surprisingly personal objections to Eliot Spitzer's health care spending plan, which included an assertion that the governor has an anger problem. In a brief interview with Rangel just now, he said, "We're going to have to clear the air if we're going Read More
Eliot Spitzer just revised his budget proposal to the state legislature. The amendments include a salary increase for District Attorneys ($1.1 million) and restores "funding for personal care level 1 in Medicaid" to the tune of $6 million. The budget amendments can be seen over here. -- Azi Paybarah
Remember Hillary Clinton's tough talk yesterday about the impact New York hospitals would feel thanks to president Bush's proposed budget? Well, Dennis Rivera and Ken Raske, guys who represent health care workers and hospitals, respectively, are putting Hillary's statements yesterday to work in their public campaign against Eliot Spitzer's budget. In a letter Read More
I've been wondering what, if any, political parallels exist between the president's plan to slash federal spending on health care programs and Eliot Spitzer's move to reduce the level state spending. At a press conference today to denounce the Bush health care cuts, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer both indicated that the president's proposals are Read More
"We face a real challenge on health care that we must confront head on. This is exactly the wrong approach."
She's talking about the president's cuts. But -- and this is just a personal guess -- I'm betting certain unions will be looking to draw comparisons here with the health care spending cuts in Eliot Read MoreAs part of their ongoing attempt to make the case against Eliot Spitzer's cutbacks in health care spending, 1199 SEIU and the Greater New York Hospitals Association released a list of reasons not to cut any money from Medicaid. Among them was this one: "Medicaid spending has already been controlled." Hmm. -- Azi Paybarah
Eliot Spitzer is still talking to reporters, but in the meantime, 1199 is already doing its best to pour water on his health care agenda. An unusually harsh joint statement from 1199 and the Greater New York Hospital Association said that Spitzer's statements were "riddled with inaccuracies" and that there is "nothing strategic or policy-minded Read More
Eliot Spitzer is presenting his budget to lawmakers right now in a meeting not advertised as an open press event, but they're letting us in anyway. It's essentially the same thing he's about to say in a more formal speech he's to make reporters and the public. Spitzer explained his "hard choices" (health care Read More
I announced today that I am forming a presidential exploratory committee. I'm not just starting a campaign, though, I'm beginning a conversation -- with you, with America. Because we all need to be part of the Read More
1199 SEIU, the powerful health care workers union, has announced that they're endorsing Republican state Senate candidate Maureen O'Connell in the special election in Nassau. As Liz notes, the move is a sign of the tension that exists between union president Dennis Rivera and Governor Eliot Spitzer, who have very different views of health Read More
