New York State – Tom's Blog

New York State officials who provide information about illegal alien drivers to federal immigration enforcement agencies can now face felony charges.

An amendment to the highly controversial ‘Green Light Law,’ which went into effect in December and cleared illegal aliens to apply for New York State driver’s licenses, was slipped into the state’s 2020 budget bill and signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in April, in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

It is now a Class E felony for state officials, such as law enforcement officers, to disclose DMV records with agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“Border Patrol for example, working the highway in the middle of the night and pulls over a vehicle, they can’t run the plates to determine who owns that vehicle,” U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York J.P. Kennedy told WKBW. “I think it’s legislating obstruction and it’s very concerning to me.”

“We’ve seen how important communication and coordination in coming up with a response to the pandemic and sort of causing people to work in isolation it’s a recipe for disaster,” Kennedy continued. “I’m very concerned about this and I think it’s very unfortunate and makes me really question the motives of the individuals that enacted this law, if their professed interest in public safety and public health is really as important as they say they are.”

Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns says the new budget bill “basically criminalize[s]” police work.

“This is shocking. This is unheard of — and especially during a pandemic — that someone, the governor, who is under so much pressure, thought about that to put that in there.”

By Joel B. Pollak – 4/30/2020

New York State officials allowed nursing home employees infected with coronavirus to continue to work and to treat residents at the Hornell Gardens facility in rural Steuben County, according to a New York Post report.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come under increasing scrutiny for a March 25 directive ordering nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients. The text of the directive stated (original emphasis): “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. NHs are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”

Cuomo has since said that nursing homes could tell the state Department of Public Health they could not accept such patients, or transfer them to other facilities. However, some homes have said that the state was unresponsive when they reached out, and that they felt intense pressure to accept the patients — despite the unique risk coronavirus generally poses to elderly people.

The Post reported Thursday:

The state Health Department allowed nurses and other staff who tested positive for the coronavirus to continue treating COVID-19 patients at an upstate nursing home, The Post has learned.

State officials signed off on the move during an April 10 conference call that excluded local officials from Steuben County, who protested the move, according to a document provided by the county government’s top administrator, Jack Wheeler.

At least 15 people have died at the Hornell Gardens nursing home in the tiny town of Hornell since the outbreak, according to county tallies. State records show just seven deaths across the county and include no data about this home.

Roughly one third of the staff and residents at the home have contracted the virus, the Post added.

Last week, Steuben County reported that 73% of its 33 coronavirus deaths at the time had been linked to nursing homes.

An audit of New York state’s Medicaid program has found that more than $63,000 was paid out on sexual and erectile dysfunction drugs for registered sex offenders over a period of six years.

The audit found that Medicaid had made improper payments of $933,594 for “drugs, procedures, and supplies” to treat erectile dysfunction between 2012 and 2018, which is illegal under state and federal laws. “There are clear rules about what conditions Medicaid will cover when it comes to erectile dysfunction drugs,” state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement.

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Of the 47 sex offenders who’d received the treatments, 30 of them were classified as “level-2” or “level-3” offenders. Risk of reoffending is determined as “moderate” for level-2 offenders and “high” for level-3 offenders.

DiNapoli said the problem of Medicaid being used to treat sexual dysfunction issues had been identified by the comptroller’s office in 2005, when it found that Medicaid had paid for Viagra for 198 recipients who were classified as level-3 sex offenders. That review sparked an overhaul and led to reforms in the system on both a national and state level, but the latest audit confirms the problem persists.

In a response to the audit, the state’s Department of Health dismissed the findings, arguing that the drugs in question “can also be used to treat other indications” including hypertension and enlarged prostates. The department claims less than $8,000 of the figure was questionable, out of a $60 billion state program.

DiNapoli rejected the response, however, saying in many cases recipients had no other relevant diagnosis.

Tag: New York State

NY State paid out $63k for erectile dysfunction meds for SEX OFFENDERS, audit finds

An audit of New York state’s Medicaid program has found that more than $63,000 was paid out on sexual and erectile dysfunction drugs for registered sex offenders over a period of six years.

Shocking amendment to Green Light Law slipped into budget bill during virus crisis

New York State officials who provide information about illegal alien drivers to federal immigration enforcement agencies can now face felony charges.

New York State officials allowed nursing home employees infected with coronavirus to continue to work and to treat residents at the Hornell Gardens facility in rural Steuben County, according to a New York Post report.

An audit of New York state’s Medicaid program has found that more than $63,000 was paid out on sexual and erectile dysfunction drugs for registered sex offenders over a period of six years.