Addabbo: 'Health Care Concerns on the Rise'

Senator Says Creation of State Health Care Exchange Also Creates More Uncertainty

Queens, NY – Last month, Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an Executive Order creating a statewide health insurance exchange, which he said would bring “true competition into the health care marketplace, driving costs down across the state.”  

Governor Cuomo’s actions dealt directly with the issue of complying with the federal Affordable Care Act, which is being debated in the Supreme Court over its constitutionality and validity.

According to NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. (D-Queens), explaining the impact of the state’s health insurance exchange to the average resident is an addition to the other concerns people have about the future of their health care.

“With the major changes in health care on the governmental level, many of my constituents have questions that must be answered with accurate information,” Addabbo commented.

Addabbo stated that his office, which has a dedicated staff member for such health-related issues, has seen a huge increase in individuals with health care concerns. 

The state health care exchange will be entirely financed by the federal government and will be instrumental in establishing the first-ever comparative marketplace to bring down the cost of health insurance.

If New York failed to establish an exchange, the federal government would have stepped in and created a federally operated exchange in the state, in order to comply with the Affordable Care Act. 

Governor Cuomo emphasized that the state is expecting federal financing to set up the exchange and has already received $88 million in federal grants to plan for its health exchange.  In order to save on administrative costs, the Executive Order set up the exchange within the State Health Department.

By decreasing the cost of insurance, the exchange will help more than one million uninsured New Yorkers afford health care coverage. 

Currently, New Yorkers subsidize the health care costs of the 2.7 million residents of the state without health insurance. Many of these residents forgo preventive treatment which puts their own health at risk and costs the state more than $600 million annually to pay for the hospital bills of the uninsured. 

The exchange will allow residents to obtain health coverage and facilitate the purchase of health plans. Additionally, the exchange will ensure that eligible small businesses and individuals will have access to tax credits and cost-sharing reductions from the federal government totaling $6.2 billion.

Senator Addabbo said the exchanges would allow for open competition between health insurers which will drive down costs and improve services, ultimately creating a better value for the consumer.

The exchange, a plan where people and small businesses will be able to shop for insurance coverage, would also direct individuals to Medicaid, if they are eligible.

Addabbo stated that he is concerned with the cost of insurance for seniors and that is an issue under the exchange.

“There are still numerous issues with the exchange that must be addressed before it can be implemented. The extent and cost of a person’s health coverage is a critical matter for me,” Addabbo stated.  

The Senator encourages those who have questions about the state’s health care exchange or other health care issues to contact his office at (718) 738-1111.

Addabbo Pushes for S. 3093 Bill

Legislation Could Save New York State Taxpayers $300 Million Annually

Queens, NY - New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr. (D-Queens), a member of the Senate Labor and Civil Service Committees, is pushing legislation (S.3093) that could save New York State taxpayers more than $300 million a year by reducing the number of expensive outside consultants hired by state agencies and having necessary work done “in house” by state public employees.

“According to figures from the Office of the State Comptroller cited in a recent report by the Public Employees Federation, New York State spent an astounding $3.5 billion on outside consultants last year, which represents an $840 million increase over the last eight years,” Addabbo said.

“When you consider that, on average, consultants are paid almost $73 an hour – while regular state employees average about $52 per hour with the cost of benefits factored in – it appears that we’re spending way too much money for people to come in and do the same exact jobs that full-time state workers could do in-house at a lower cost.”

The legislation Addabbo is cosponsoring would require that state agencies, prior to entering into contracts with outside consultants to perform specific jobs, undertake a cost comparison analysis to determine whether the work could be done more economically and efficiently by state employees.

“This just seems like common sense,” said Addabbo, noting that the federal government implemented a similar directive in 2009 for agency contracts that is expected to save up to $40 billion. 

In recent years, in addition to the Public Employees Federation, a number of entities including the State Comptroller, New York State Assembly, and New York State Senate Task Force on Government Efficiency have conducted studies concluding that the state could realize significant savings by reducing its reliance on expensive outside consultants. 

The Public Employee Federation report estimates savings of $316 million a year if some consultants are replaced by regular state employees.    

“The recent report, entitled New York’s Consultants: the Invisible Workforce, says that the state hired at least 1,300 new full-time consultants – a 24 percent increase – in the last three years, while the rank-and-file state workforce was reduced by 14,000 full-time employees,” Addabbo said, noting that most of the consultants were brought in to perform accounting, information technology (IT), and engineering work.

“Some of the IT consultants were paid as much as $240 an hour, while state workers performing the same job earn about $53 per hour, with the cost of their benefits included.  While efforts to make state agency operations more cost-efficient are always necessary, particularly in difficult economic times, the strategy of hiring outside consultants to do the work of a significantly depleted state workforce appears to be backfiring in a very costly way.”

While estimates may vary of the taxpayer savings that would be realized from reduced reliance on outside consultants, Addabbo said that “any savings would be welcome at a time when we are still trying to get our fiscal house back in order and recover from very difficult economic hardships. Passage of my legislation would help get us back on track and ensure that our limited resources and taxpayer dollars are used wisely and cost-effectively to get important state jobs done and done well.”

The legislation has already been approved by the New York State Assembly, and is awaiting a vote by the full membership in the Senate.