Monday, December 26, 2016

Audit Finds NYS made $6.8 Million in Medicaid Overpayments

New York State’s Medicaid system made approximately $6.8 million in inappropriate payments, including $3.5 million for separately billed medical services that should have been covered by managed care plans, according to an audit released by the State Comptroller. By the end of audit fieldwork, about $2.4 million of the overpayments were recovered.

New York’s Medicaid program, administered by the state Department of Health (DOH), is a federal, state, and locally funded program that provides a wide range of medical services to those who are economically disadvantaged or have special health care needs.

Read the full report here.

Monday, December 19, 2016

NYS Police Chiefs want ride-sharing services in upstate to help reduce drunk driving

New York Daily News:
The head of the state Association of Chiefs of Police is calling on Gov. Cuomo to expand ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft to upstate to curb drunk driving.

In a letter to Cuomo, Cheektowaga Police Chief David Zack wrote that upstate accounts for 51% of all licensed drivers in New York, but 65% of alcohol- and drug-impaired arrests and 59% of all fatal and personal injury crashes.

The percentages are significantly lower in New York City, which offers an array of ridesharing and mass transit options that upstate does not, Zack wrote.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Upcoming Family Court Event: Transforming Child Welfare and Children's Lives.

On December 13, the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy Policy Forum will present Transforming Child Welfare and Children's Lives:Proven Strategies that Strengthen Families.

The event is billed as "a conversation about 'What Works' with individuals touched by child welfare systems."

Participants will include: Anni Keane and Rose Williams from You Gotta Believe - a NYC organization that seeks to find permanent homes for older children in the foster care system; Sheila J. Poole, the Acting Commissioner from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services; Linda S. Spears, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families; Molly McGrath Tierney, the Director of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services; and Jeanette Vega from Rise - a parent support organization in NYC.

The event will run from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm in the Dora Maxwell Auditorium, 700 Patroon Creek Blvd, Albany, NY 12206.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Conservative Party joins fight for New York indigent defense funding

New York Daily News:
It isn't often that the state Conservative Party is in agreement with liberal groups, but that is the case when it comes to urging Gov. Cuomo to sign a bill that would gradually shift the funding of legal services for the poor from the localities on to the state.

The Conservative Party... said that a requirement that the state's counties, including the five boroughs, fund legal defense programs for the poor amounts to an unfunded mandate that is choking the finances of the localities.....

The bill has won the support across the political spectrum....The New York Civil Liberties Union, the state Catholic Conference, NAACP, Lambda Legal Defense Fund, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Innocence Project and the Brennan Center for Justice have also urged Cuomo to sign the bill.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Warning: Email Phishing Scam

The New York State Bar Association is aware of an email phishing scam that is targeted at attorneys.
The current email subject line says: "The Office of The State Attorney Complaint." No such office exists in New York.

If you received the email, please delete it immediately. Do not follow any links or open any attachments. If you do, your computer or cell phone could be exposed to a virus.

The Office of the New York State Attorney General has issued a press release about the scam. Link: http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-issues-alert-phishing-scam-targeting-new-york-attorneys.

For more information about how the AG's office handles complaints against businesses, go to: http://www.ag.ny.gov/consumer-frauds/Filing-a-Consumer-Complaint.