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Bill Hammond Profile picture
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14 May, 4 tweets, 2 min read
Catching up to this @GormleyAlbany story about vacancy rates in New York nursing homes, which are three times higher than normal -- and have barely budged since last May. newsday.com/news/region-st…
When I first looked at nursing home vacancy last June, it had soared to 21% from a typical level of 8%.
empirecenter.org/publications/n…
The share of empty nursing homes beds has stayed close to 21% ever since -- rising to a high of almost 24% in January.
Surprisingly, though, NY's 3X-higher-than-normal vacancy rate is the third lowest in the country.

These are very rough times for nursing homes.

Source: data.cms.gov/Special-Progra…

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More from @NYHammond

Bill Hammond Profile picture
29 Apr
Lawmakers in Albany are again advancing the NY Health Act, which would abolish private health insurance and herd all NYers into a state-run “single payer” plan financed with massive tax hikes.

Here are 10 reasons why “Albanycare” is the wrong way to go.
empirecenter.org/publications/t…
#1: It’s a leap of faith
Instead of modeling their plan on an existing system, the authors propose a 100% tax-funded blanket health plan with no private alternatives allowed. Nothing quite like it has ever been tried before—in the U.S. or anywhere else.
#2: It’s unnecessarily disruptive
NY's uninsured population has dropped to a historic low of about 1M, many of whom are eligible for existing programs. The state could focus on covering that group without changing things for everyone else.
Read 12 tweets
Bill Hammond Profile picture
17 Apr
.@GannettAlbany and @JonCampbellGAN report that Victoria Derbyshire, acting director of Wadsworth Labs at the NYS Health Department, is preparing to retire -- the latest in a string of high-level staff departures at DOH.
democratandchronicle.com/story/news/pol…
Even before the pandemic, the state's public health budget and staffing were in a decade-long decline. empirecenter.org/publications/n…
In the just-passed state budget, publicly reported funding for Wadsworth was sliced by another third. empirecenter.org/publications/n…
Read 5 tweets
Bill Hammond Profile picture
9 Apr
A head-scratcher:

Even as Cuomo & the Legislature ramped up overall spending by 10%, they *cut* the operating allocation for NY's public health lab, the Wadsworth Center, by 1/3.
empirecenter.org/publications/n…
Wadsworth played a key role in the state's pandemic response, including quickly developing an alternative COVID test last February when the CDC's test failed. lohud.com/story/news/hea…
The budget reported includes $750 million in capital funding for a new Wadsworth facility in Albany. bizjournals.com/albany/news/20…
Read 4 tweets
Bill Hammond Profile picture
6 Apr
The Health and Mental Hygiene budget bill has now passed both houses.

It isn't the last word, because more health-related stuff could and probably will pop up in the "big ugly," which is still to come.

Here are some highlights of what is public so far: (1/?)
Global cap: Despite repeal proposals, Gov. Cuomo's "global cap," limiting a portion of state Medicaid spending to medical inflation, is extended through March 2023. Monthly progress reports, which DOH has often skipped, are replaced by quarterly reports.
'Excess' malpractice coverage: State-funded supplemental malpractice insurance for physicians and dentists, which Cuomo had proposed to cut in half, is to continue without changes – effectively subsidizing a generally high-income group.
Read 10 tweets
Bill Hammond Profile picture
6 Apr
Another ridiculous feature of Albany's budget "process" is voting in the middle of the night.

Not only is it an affront to transparency and calm deliberation, it's humiliating and unhealthy for the legislators themselves. There's a reason sleep deprivation is form of torture.
Some years back, one senator died of a heart attack not long after an all-night session. Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (who is now also deceased) made a point of banning late-night voting for that reason.

I'm not sure he always complied, but it was good rule.
A favorite war story from 1998, my first year in the LCA.

In a lame-duck session, the Legislature was voting on an ugly amalgam of raises for themselves, authorization for charter schools and a pricing scheme for milk. ...
Read 4 tweets
Bill Hammond Profile picture
5 Apr
Saying that Cuomo "cut" Medicaid over and over again doesn't make it true.

On his watch, total Medicaid spending is up $26.1B or 49%, and this year he's proposing to increase it by another $6.6B or 8%.
nytimes.com/2021/04/04/opi… Image
As of 2019, eight years into Cuomo's term, New York's per capita Medicaid spending was more than double the national average and 29% higher than any other state.
empirecenter.org/publications/n… Image
"Cuomo cut Medicaid" is the "Stop the Steal" of the left.
Read 4 tweets

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