Who Do They Really Help?

Hi Everyone,

One of many of the big battles currently going on in DC, is how to reduce entitlement programs like Medicaid. Both parties have their own ideas on how to reduce federal spending on programs such as Medicaid. Unfortunately, both sides don't like the other sides ideas and so the battles rage on. But wait, isn't there something that can be done right away to reduce the spending amounts? I think I have found one such avenue.

On 2/15/13, my Gannett newspaper ran an article regarding how New York state's public funds were being wasted. First let me inform you that here in New York state, our per-resident Medicaid spending is nearly double that of Pennsylvania and more than double that of California. In August 2011, The New York Times wrote about two brothers, Philip and Joel Levy, who earned nearly $1 million each overseeing the Young Adult Institute Network. YAIN cares for the developmentally disabled. Philip Levy retired and Joel Levy resigned after the newspaper looked into their spending practices about two months before the story was published. Obviously there was something wrong going on for the two of them to quit!

Well, well, well...... it seems that being an executive for a not-for-profit, here in New York
state, primarily financed by Medicaid money is still a very lucrative business to be in. The 2/15/13 article did not cover all New York state nonprofits dealing with Medicaid, but it did highlight a few. The facts are these, that at least 15 executives earned in excess of $500,000 per year. What?! The report, which is what the 2/15 article is based on is called, "Billions of Federal Tax Dollars Misspent on New York's Medicaid Program," also found another 100 executives who earned "excessive salaries" - more than $200,000 each, at New York nonprofits operating primarily to provide Medicaid health services to the poor. Five of the agencies are located in Westchester and Rockland counties. This is an outrage and every New York state resident should be mad as hell!!! Just imagine what the report would state if all nonprofits receiving this kind of money were included.

So what can a state do to try to combat these excessive salaries? New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo did the right thing and just recently issued an executive order "capping executive salaries at $199,000 for most contractors doing business with more than a dozen state agencies beginning April 1, 2013". Congrats to our governor. Hopefully our state Legislature will pass the governor's order into law. It is a sorry state of affairs when taxpayers dollars are being so misspent. But the really sad part, is that the executives who receive these bloated salaries think it is OK.

So if New York state can cap nonprofit executive salaries at $199,000, why not the entire United States? Part of Medicaid reform should include this cap. Common sense tells me that all avenues should be looked at when Congress debates entitlement reform. These excessive salaries are just not warranted and should be stopped ASAP!!!

Greed is not a pretty accessory!

Til next week.

Peter