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April 28, 2006 IN THE NEWS: Override
votes anger Pataki - Governor says many of the Legislature's additions
are illegal. by James M. Odato ALBANY -- The Legislature voted Wednesday to override almost all of Gov. George Pataki's $2.9 billion in budget vetoes, but the governor contends he'll block most of the spending. Pataki said he won't recognize the bulk of the initiatives because were illegally drafted, including some of the Legislature's biggest priorities. As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars for health care and $805 million for a tax rebate program this year cannot be funded, Pataki said, because they were unconstitutionally crafted in the budget the Legislature built. The governor declared $1.9 billion of the vetoes void and closed the door on any more negotiations involving spending or anything that might increase future budget deficits. He said the Legislature's budget will result in a $7.7 billion budget gap over the next two years, although lawmakers argue the state has a $5 billion surplus. "This budget is done," the governor said. David Catalfamo, Pataki's director of communications, said the budget represents a banner year for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan. "Shelly got everything he wants," he said. Silver's aides agreed the Assembly Democratic majority won several priorities. School funding rose a record $1.2 billion over last year to more than $17 billion. The package also includes $800 million for school construction statewide and nearly $11 billion for New York City school projects; the end of the sales tax on clothing and shoes of less than $110, and a tax credit for parents of school-age kids of up to $330 per child. The Republican-led Senate lost the centerpiece of its budget plan -- the STAR-based tax rebate program aimed at getting checks worth a few hundred dollars to property owners before Election Day. But Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, said he will continue to fight for rebates this year. "It's not over 'til it's over," said Bruno. The overrides, achieved with bipartisan voting, will restore $1 billion for an array of other expenditures. They include hundreds of millions of dollars for SUNY and CUNY operating aid and projects, $119.5 million for college tuition awards, and $25 million for home health care workers' raises. The Legislature also brought back $360 million for discretionary funds for unspecified projects controlled by legislative leaders, including the $200 million "member item" pot that funds grants lawmakers can take home to their districts. Senate Democrats had threatened to block the money this year unless there was more disclosure of how the so-called pork would be spent. A deal Wednesday cleared the way for the funds to be freed. Senate Minority Leader David Paterson said the leaders agreed to reveal uses for discretionary funds 30 days before the projects are set for agency disbursement. The public, he said, will be able to learn about the projects and weigh in on the proposals before a contract is done. In future years, he said, lawmakers will receive lists identifying the projects before the budget vote. Pataki's aides criticized Paterson's "reform" as a step backward because past budgets actually itemized uses for discretionary funds. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who is campaigning to become governor, has said he would veto unitemized discretionary fund expenditures if he wins election. Paterson released his conference's member item expenditures for recent years, and Assembly Republicans did the same, honoring a request by the Times Union to the Legislature for the materials. The Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats did not follow suit. Pataki calculated the final budget at just above $112 billion, up from the $106 billion budget enacted last year. It would be a 7.4 percent increase from last year's actual spending of $104.3 billion. Pataki had proposed a $110.6 billion budget with $1.3 billion in health care cuts. Many of the reductions and changes to Medicaid he proposed became law with the overrides, including cutting funds to hospitals for medical student education and ending for at least a year the ability of people to get out of paying medical care costs of spouses. Legislators were unsure how to proceed now. "Obviously, it's very messy," said Assemblyman James Brennan, a Democratic lawyer from Brooklyn. Lawmakers complained Pataki's legal arguments for blocking expenditures were wrong and well beyond executive powers. Most likely, several said, a party expecting funding will sue. Leaders in the health care industry have hired lawyers and are proposing litigation. Pataki said a suit is a matter of "when" rather than "if." He voiced confidence the courts would back him up. Bruno said he hoped to avoid a legal battle, which could take years. But, he said, "We're going to do whatever we can to get the money out the door this year." Sen. Thomas Libous, R-Binghamton, who has been close to Pataki, said he is optimistic the governor will be willing to discuss fiscal matters again, especially with so much up in the air. The Legislature, for example, overrode Pataki's veto of $5.2 million to operate Camp Pharsalia, a minimum security prison in Chenango County. But Pataki declared the expenditure unconstitutional. The governor had wanted to spend $130 million to develop the prison into a facility for civil confinement of sexual offenders who had served prison terms but were not rehabilitated. "There's a lot of time for negotiation between now and the end of the year," Libous said. Timothy's
Law Rally If you were in downtown Binghamton, you might have noticed a large group of people walking down Court Street with picket signs towards the State Office Building for a rally there. NewsChannel 34's Peter Quinn has more on their push to pass a law requiring health insurance companies to treat people who are mentally ill as long as they need it. The group knows what it wants. Right now, under many health insurance programs, people who are mentally ill can't get the treatment they need. The Assembly's version of the bill, known as Timothy's Law, was approved last month and it would change that. Lupardo says, "It basically ends the discrimination that people who are seeking mental health services face, because there is limited coverage for people who have mental illness. What we are trying to do is have mental health insurance parody, it's equality. It treats mental illness on a par with physical illness." Timothy's Law is named after 12 year-old Timothy O'Clair of Schenectady who committed suicide five years ago after he didn't get the mental care he needed. His father spoke today. O'Clair says, "We had fought for four and a half years to get him the level and the amount of mental health care and treatment that he needed to deal with his mental health issues. But, due to limits imposed by the insurance industry we weren't able to bring it to him." The rally's purpose was to put pressure on the Senate to also pass Timothy's Law. Now, the State Senate does have its own version of the bill. Actually, it's sponsored by State Senator Tom Libous who used to chair the Mental Health Committee. Under the Senate's version, it would require health insurers to treat people who are mentally ill or who have other biological disorders.. However, it does not span out as far as the Assembly's version. Libous says, "The Assembly bill is much too broad. It goes way too far. And, it's not a bill that's business-friendly either. It would really put a lot of small businesses in jeopardy. But, having said that, I think the Senate bill, if the Assembly would be willing to compromise and talk with the Senate, which they are not willing to do, we could have a very good mental health parody bill on the books." Libous says insurance costs would increase under the Assembly's version because it's so broad and includes treating pedophiles, people who have disorders from drinking too much caffeine, and those who used cocaine for a long time. People at the rally say it's time for Timothy's Law to become law before another tragedy happens. Another note about the Senate's version, Libous says it's comparable to what other states have. Medicare
Rule Guarantees Continuity of Drugs. by Robert Pear WASHINGTON, April 26 - The Bush administration issued a new policy on Wednesday that protects Medicare beneficiaries against the sudden loss of coverage for drugs they are taking under the prescription drug program. Under the policy, insurers can still change their lists of covered drugs, known as formularies. But if they drop any drugs or impose new restrictions, they must exempt beneficiaries who are now taking those drugs. Dr. Mark B. McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, summarized the policy this way: "In general, a plan cannot change your coverage for the drugs you are using during the year. The stability of drug formularies is extremely important for many of our beneficiaries." The policy addresses one of the chief criticisms of the Medicare drug benefit. Democrats and a few Republicans in Congress had said it was unfair that drug plans could change their formularies at will while most beneficiaries were locked into a drug plan for the full year. This disparity was a major concern for many consumer advocates and for some beneficiaries. The new policy says, "No beneficiaries will be subject to a discontinuation or reduction in coverage of the drugs they are currently using," with some limited exceptions. An insurer could, for example, remove a drug from its formulary if new research showed that the drug was unsafe for some patients, or if a new low-cost generic version of a brand-name product became available. The Bush administration issued the policy with less than three weeks remaining before the May 15 deadline for people to sign up for Medicare drug coverage. People who miss the deadline will generally not have another opportunity until November and will then face higher premiums as a penalty for late enrollment. People can switch plans at the end of each year without penalty. Karen M. Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, said her organization supported the new federal requirement even though "it does not reflect common practice in the private sector," where employers provide drug coverage to millions of workers and retirees. Ms. Ignagni said the federal policy "will have a financial impact," increasing costs for insurers under Medicare. But, she said, "you need to balance that with the goal of providing continuity of drug coverage and peace of mind to beneficiaries." In most states, 40 or more drug plans are available. They differ in premiums, co-payments, deductibles and other details. Some plans cover fewer than 800 drugs. Some cover more than 1,800. Insurers have many tools to manage use of prescription drugs. They can, for example, require doctors to get prior approval for prescriptions and can limit the number of pills given to a patient each month. The policy says that an insurer can remove a drug from its formulary, increase co-payments or impose new restrictions "only if enrollees currently taking the affected drug are exempt from the formulary change for the remainder of the plan year." Dr. McClellan, the Medicare administrator, said his agency had received 4,600 requests from drug plans that wanted to change their formularies. About 3,100, he said, involve the addition of drugs or relatively minor changes. About 1,500 requests involve more significant changes that will be covered by the new requirement, he said. In a memorandum being sent to insurers, the Bush administration says the policy is needed to protect beneficiaries against "bait and switch" tactics in the drug benefit program, known as Part D of Medicare. "Medicare beneficiaries select Part D plans, in part, based on the formulary that is marketed during annual open enrollment and therefore have a legitimate expectation that they will have continuing access to coverage of the Part D drugs they are using throughout the plan year," the memorandum says. Nothing in the new policy fills the gap in coverage found in most plans. After incurring $2,250 in drug costs, beneficiaries typically must pay all of the next $2,850, until catastrophic coverage kicks in. The policy was issued just as Senator Max Baucus of Montana and other Democrats were putting the final touches on a bill to increase protections for Medicare beneficiaries. Dr. McClellan said insurers had legitimate reasons for changing formularies because "drug therapies are constantly evolving as new drugs are developed and new medical knowledge becomes available." Lawmakers
opt to restore $5.2M for prison camp - But governor claims move
unconstitutional. By Jim Wright PHARSALIA -- A minimum-security prison in western Chenango County remains open and operational for now, despite a difference of opinion over where funding for the coming year may be found. The state Senate and Assembly on Wednesday overrode a gubernatorial veto, putting $5.2 million for Camp Pharsalia back into the budget to keep the facility open through March 31, 2007. But Gov. George E. Pataki has claimed a number of the legislative vetoes were unconstitutional -- including the Camp Pharsalia funding, meaning the future of the facility remains uncertain. "We overrode the veto for a very simple reason -- to preserve the jobs and keep the camp open," state Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton, said. "The governor questions the constitutionality of our actions. Our attorneys say such is not the case. I did what I thought was right." Assemblyman Clifford W. Crouch, R-Guilford, said he's hopeful matters will settle down in two to three weeks with a compromise rather than lengthy and costly litigation. Democratic Assemblywoman Donna A. Lupardo, D-Endicott, said no official closure notification has been given. If the governor goes back on earlier legislation requiring a year's notice before closure, the unions representing the facility's 104 employees could head to court. The Legislature could do the same, Libous said, adding that he hoped it wouldn't come to that. "I would hope eventually he will concur with us" and move forward with a proposal to build a 600-bed, maximum-security facility at Pharsalia for Level 3 sex offenders, Libous said. While Camp Pharsalia's future is being sorted out, Lupardo said she's "confident their payroll will continue to be met." The facility's payroll has been met during April, elected state officials said. Last year's state budget period ended March 31. |
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