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Bipartisan bill booster

Suozzi, appearing with LI Republicans he's often clashed with, stands up for measure against Medicaid fraud

BY ERROL A. COCKFIELD JR | Newsday Albany Bureau Chief

April 6, 2006

New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is seen after a fundraiser at the Glen Oaks Country Club in Old Westbury. (Newsday / Karen Wiles Stabile / February 15, 2006)

ALBANY - Proving again that he is employing an unorthodox strategy as he seeks the Democratic nomination for governor, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi stood beside state Senate Republicans yesterday to lobby for their bill to fight Medicaid fraud.

Appearing in the state Capitol, Suozzi joined a bipartisan group of county executives who favor the Senate bill over a proposal floated by the Democrat-led state Assembly because it would promote collaboration between county and state officials.

"We are looking for clear authority in legislation that gives counties the right and the power and jurisdiction to go after fraud locally," Suozzi said. Counties also want a portion of the money recovered, he said.

Suozzi stood alongside several Long Island Republican senators, including Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre, Kemp Hannon of Garden City, Charles Fuschillo of Merrick, and Carl Marcellino of Syosset.

Even though his opponent, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, has an overwhelming lead in the polls, Suozzi said he does not believe appearing with the same Republicans he has sometimes clashed with would hurt him. "The reality is people want problems solved," Suozzi said. "I have a career of solving problems."

Suozzi was wading into a tense debate over the makeup of a proposed Medicaid inspector general's office. In this year's budget proposal the State Legislature included $325 million in savings from reducing Medicaid fraud, but the Senate and Assembly have been unable to agree on the makeup of the office.

Although both houses agree the governor should appoint the position, Senate Republicans want the inspector general to have a five-year term and be removed only for "cause," which they say would give the office more independence.

Assemb. Richard Gottfried, a Manhattan Democrat who chairs the Assembly's Health Committee, said the Senate's reluctance to move on that issue creates a stalemate. The Assembly wants the inspector general to serve at the governor's pleasure.

"No one in the executive branch of government has that kind of tenure," Gottfried said.

In July after media reports highlighting widespread abuses by providers, Gov. George Pataki issued an executive order appointing a Medicaid inspector general. Skelos said lawmakers agree the position should become law.

Suozzi has made reforming Medicaid one of the signature issues of his campaign. He has suggested that improving Medicaid recoveries could solve much of the state budget woes.

But Spitzer, whose office is one of the many that police Medicaid, has said Suozzi is overstating the impact monitoring fraud could have on the budget.