Medicaid 'carve-out,' moral good, crime videos, teaching with music

Medicaid ‘carve-out’ will save us millions

As a pharmacist, I see the change to the New York Medicaid 340B “carve-out” resulting in significant savings to taxpayers, patients and pharmacy providers in the state, eliminating the middlemen — pharmacy benefit managers — saving millions of dollars [“  ‘Carve-out’ in Medicaid may torment LIers,” News, March 22].

There is a lack of transparency by PBMs. Their use of spread pricing (which inflates drug costs and adds to their profits) and use of drug formularies that select products based on manufacturer rebates (which also inflates costs and adds to their bottom line) are just a few tactics that have added to the Medicaid drug spend.

Prescriptions filled in the Medicaid 340B program, which is designed to help covered entities stretch scarce federal resources, generate outsized profits. A typical profit at a traditional pharmacy of $7 can translate to a $500 profit at a 340B pharmacy for the same medication.

The original intent of the 340B program is no longer feasible as the number of uninsured patients has decreased and most HIV drugs are now available generically.

The state will be able to negotiate prices directly from the manufacturers and realize the savings. The Medicaid carve-out is a sensible and necessary reform.

— Peter Goldstein, Westbury

Videos show crime? It must be true

A reader writes that the public was shown “selective footage” from the Jan. 6 “event” by most media [“Two views of Fox News and Jan. 6 recordings,” Letters, March 19]. Here’s where I take issue with the questionable reasoning of many supporters of former President Donald Trump.

When you see two scenes from a war, one of troops eating a meal and the other of those same troops in battle, one can come to an educated conclusion that it wasn’t a peaceful conflict.

When you watch a sporting event and see images of players sitting on the bench and other images from the same game of a high scoring back-and-forth contest, again, you can deduce that it was an exciting game.

So when you watch video from Jan. 6 and see peaceful protesters milling around the lobby of the Capitol followed by multiple videos of obsessed insurrectionists attempting to maim and injure, one should come to the conclusion that there was unmistakable violence taking place.

All these examples have nothing to do with who you believe is telling you the truth, but it does have everything to do with one’s capacity to think critically.

 — Mark Snider, Massapequa

While I understand some readers’ views on the media’s coverage of the Jan. 6 event at the Capitol being partisan, there are stark differences in coverage. Based on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s coverage, I also would wonder what the big deal is about Jan 6.

However, Fox’s latest coverage omits the parts where the “well-behaved visitors” overran and beat the Capitol police officers and then succeeded in breaking down doors and windows to gain access to the Capitol. So, at that point they then became peaceful sightseers? Other media outlets did mainly focus on the violence and rightly so because that’s where crimes were committed.

Fox’s coverage is like recording a DWI driver on a highway swerving just a little but then deleting the part where he fatally crashes into another vehicle.

It is important to get both sides of a story, but I believe Fox has shown that its side may not be the most accurate.

 — Jim Baumert, West Islip

Facing fear for moral good is worth noting

When parents are torn from their homes, separated from their children and, in most cases, perish because they were Jewish, that’s evil winning [“ ‘You can always see the hope in the bad,’  ” News, March 21]. When a French family like Frederique Allart’s great-grandparents take in two young children in 1942 so they wouldn’t meet the same fate, while risking their own lives, that’s a prime example of courage flourishing.

Yes, there is a place in the afterlife for the Nazis. And, thankfully, heaven holds a place for people like Allart’s family, who faced fear for moral good. Let’s share with our children these and similar acts of goodness.

 — Rosemarie Cammarata, Merrick

Teaching with music hits the right chord

Freeport teacher Stephanie Arnell using music to teach various subjects with the TeachRock curriculum is inspiring [“A learning approach of ‘note,’  ” News, March  19]. Alternative teaching techniques can elevate students to greater heights.

Credit rocker Stevie Van Zandt for spearheading the technique. Arnell’s video footage of labor activist Dolores Huerta and the song “De  Colores” were smart, too.

Let’s use this technique for other school districts throughout Long Island and the city.

 — Peter Bonet, Garden City