NYAPRS Note: Some clarity came from Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah at Monday’s joint legislative health/Medicaid budget hearing, when he explained that LICH hospital in Brooklyn wouldn’t be propped up with state funds even if the $10 billion waiver amendment is successful. His remarks came amidst growing criticism from some advocates and politicians who have claimed that the Administration may be using the ailing hospitals as political leverage for the waiver’s success. Shah’s clarifying remarks are appreciated by many advocates who have expressed concern that the bulk of the waiver’s proposal—to invest in public hospitals and safety net providers using a performance-based incentive program known as DSRIP—would be implemented without regard to the current administration, fiscal security, and community tenure of existing hospital and provider networks.
No Bailout for LICH, Says Health Commissioner
Crain’s New York Business; AP, 1/3/2014
The New York state health commissioner said Monday that Long Island College Hospital would not be eligible for federal funding from the state’s Medicaid waiver request.
Testifying at a joint legislative budget hearing, Dr. Nirav Shah said that only hospitals with a plan to reduce inpatient admissions 25% would be eligible for federal funds.
“That kind of transformation can occur with Interfaith,” a central Brooklyn hospital that is battling bankruptcy. “LICH is a different story,” he said.
His remarks are in line with recent efforts by the Cuomo administration to move the conversation away from the notion of preserving hospitals and towards downsizing.
“I don’t want to ‘rescue'” hospitals, Mr. Cuomo told Crain’s editorial staff last week. Though he has lobbied vocally for a decision on the Medicaid waiver request, which would provide a $10 billion cash infusion to the state, the funds would cover upfront costs to downsize some of Brooklyn’s hospitals–not preserve them in their current state.
“Our opening premise is, you have an excess hospital capacity,” he told Crain’s. “You have beds that you don’t need. You have to close beds … and plan a county-wide, borough-wide health care system that makes sense.”
On Friday, State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery became the first local elected official to publicly support a pared-down version of LICH. In a letter to SUNY Board of Trustees Chair H. Carl McCall, she said “the financial Status of LICH as a fully staffed and operated traditional hospital does not seem tenable.”
It is unclear whether the Medicaid statement marks a change for LICH’s future, since a sale by SUNY appears imminent, and it is unclear that a new operator would have been eligible for waiver funds. Monday afternoon marked the deadline for interested parties to submit revised proposals for the hospital.
A spokesman for SUNY said that the university is reviewing proposals to make sure they comply “with the minimum mandatory requirements,” and that SUNY “will provide summaries as soon as we are able.”