State, Suffolk bicker over health care aid

The war of words over state health care aid to Suffolk County continued Saturday with New York's budget director accusing the county of improper billing.

State budget director Robert Megna said New York is withholding $15.2 million in health care funds from Suffolk because there was "systemic improper billing on the part of the county."

Megna disagreed with statements from County Executive Steve Levy and local legislators that the state is retroactively taking back money for services the county has already provided.

"Claims that the state is cutting $15 million from Suffolk County health centers are fundamentally inaccurate and needlessly frighten the New Yorkers who depend on these services," Megna said.

Levy disputed that the disagreement revolves around overbilling. "They're outright lying," he said.

He and county budget director Connie Corso said the state will no longer fund some services, including treating people 21 and older at county health clinics. Levy and Corso said the county could deal with that change but not with retroactively taking back health care funding for aid it paid the county for services going back to 2008.

Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) said he and the legislature's independent budget office agree with Levy.

County officials, though, could not immediately supply documentation that the loss of funds is related to the policy change.

A Sept. 3, 2010, letter to Suffolk Commissioner of Health Services, James Tomarken, supplied by the Cuomo administration Saturday night, noted a number of issues in which the state commissioner of health's office disputed payments for which the county was seeking reimbursement.

The issues included payments for primary care for HIV patients in county health clinics, and coordination of mental, social services and dental care for jail inmates after they are released from jail.

To combat the cut in state funding, the Levy administration ordered health center cutbacks. Among the hardest hit are the Elsie Owens Health Center at Coram, scheduled to close July 1, and the loss of 8,000 patient visits at the Dolan Family Health Center in Greenlawn.

Levy continued to blame the governor for the cuts, calling them "the Cuomo clinic cuts."

In his statement, Megna said, "The state is in discussions and ongoing litigation with the county to resolve this dispute and we will continue to work with them [county officials] in good faith."

The county sued the state last year challenging the retroactive health care cuts.

Saturday's back and forth came the same week that following Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy's statement that county executives should watch their spending, Levy said, "I do not need lectures on how to control my own spending."