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Bill Hammond Profile picture
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2 Jun, 6 tweets, 3 min read
In more 3,200 pages of Fauci emails from January through June 2020, just released under FOIA, there is one reference to a communication between him and Gov. Cuomo ... buzzfeednews.com/article/natali…
On 3/4/20, Fauci wrote to a fellow NIH official:

"I received a text from Governor Cuomo of NY State and he wants me to come up to NYC for a Press Conference with his Health Commissioner, Howard Zuycker [sic]."

assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2079…
Fauci was copied on 4/6 and 4/8 emails about media strategy that listed Cuomo as one of several governors who might be helpful. assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2079…
On April 8, Fauci sent someone a link to an article:

assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2079…
Late last March, Cuomo expressed appreciation that Fauci took his calls, including at odd hours. Apparently they did not communicate by email. businessinsider.com/coronavirus-an…
Cuomo's own public schedules for February through March show three phone conversations with Fauci, two for 15 minutes each on March 9 and March 12, and one for as much as 30 minutes on April 13. empirecenter.org/publications/c…

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More from @NYHammond

Bill Hammond Profile picture
14 May
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.
Read 4 tweets
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

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