Town Hall Fun

I appreciated the opportunity to take part in the live broadcast town hall on Monday, May 15, 2017 with my congressman John Katko. The event wasn’t earth shattering or game changing. It was a good start for a new way to do public dialogue with elected officials. I’d love to get state and local elected officials in that kind of format.

Here are the questions I had prepared for the evening but did not get a chance to ask. (News coverage here, here, and here. Plus protest coverage here, here, and here.)

Medicaid

Medicaid fraud prevention measures do a poor job of preventing fraud. Instead they make it harder for people who need services to get them. How would you address this problem at the federal level?

Medicaid reimbursements to service providers are notoriously low. This leaves people with limited options for care. It is a perennial problem for people with disabilities who need specialized care. Central New Yorkers are currently faced with a limited number of providers forcing families to make choices such as driving several hours to find a provider, travelling out of state, paying out of pocket, or going without. When will Medicaid reimburse at realistic market rates paying providers what their services are worth and how would you address the lack of services available to those utilizing Medicaid?

Healthcare

Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act millions of Americans who had health insurance coverage have lost it because of ACA regulations. Are you committed to changing regulations that cost so many Americans their health insurance?

Tax Reform/Medicaid

New York state bears the dubious distinction of having the highest state tax burden in the country. This is driven in part by counties outside of New York city carrying the financial burden of the state’s Medicaid program. Are you committed to incentivizing New York to provide tax relief to New Yorkers in this area?

IDEA

Students in central New York are being denied the services and supports due them under IDEA. What steps will you take to ensure that students are not denied access to education because of their disabilities?