Hospitals across U.S. laying off staff, pausing payments amid Medicaid funding delays: WSJ
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CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
County commissioner says "we are doing everything we can" to keep Westmoreland Manor running smoothly
Westmoreland Manor, like many other health care facilities post-COVID pandemic, has seen some hard times. Despite capacity being down in recent years, Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas says the facility is in no way in dire straits. "Westmoreland Manor is an award-winning institution," said Kopas. "And it has only been cherished and used by generations of Westmoreland County residents. We owe it to them to make sure that we are doing everything we can to keep the manor operating as best it can, at self-sufficiency and at full capacity." Kopas said that a big issue for the Westmoreland Manor is that most of its residence pay for their care through Medicaid and Medicare, and since there is uncertainty around the future of those programs, that is likely causing people to be worried right now. "Not one dollar of county property taxes has gone into Westmoreland Manor for as long as anyone can remember, and it is really my intention to keep it that way," Kopas said. Kopas went on to say that like at other health care institutions, staffing is challenging and competitive, especially for nurses. He added that many different health care facilities right now are fighting over a finite number of qualified nurses. "In Westmoreland County, we are doing our part to make sure we have adjusted wages and hours, as well as the really good benefits that the county government offers," Kopas said. "So, I think we are well-positioned to keep our staffing level at the proper levels." Right now, Westmoreland Manor is looking to fill a variety of jobs, and the county is looking for qualified candidates to fill those positions. If you would like more information or are interested in applying, you can find more online.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump VP JD Vance makes liberals explode: ‘Lying through his teeth'
Vice President JD Vance continued his tour touting President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' in Georgia on Thursday — but one of his points raised the eyebrows of critics. While speaking to a crowd in Peachtree City, Vance aimed to promote how the GOP's sweeping budget bill could help working-class American families. During his remarks, he tore into former President Joe Biden's administration, claiming that some of its policies have caused rural hospitals to struggle as a result. 'So what we did is we put a lot of resources and a lot of changes and regulations to make it possible for rural hospitals to stay open, despite what the Biden administration did to them for four years,' Vance told residents just outside of Atlanta. Since Trump signed his signature policy package into law last month, rural hospitals across the country have maintained that they now have to consider tough choices, including affording services or even closing down their facilities, NBC News reported, as well as other outlets and organizations. Many rural hospitals rely on Medicaid funding, given they serve a higher share of low-income patients compared to other areas — but according to KFF, a health policy research group, the bill could lead to around 17 million people losing their health care coverage due to changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers have argued that nearly 300 rural hospitals are at risk of shutting down due to the legislation. It includes a federal spending cut more than $1 trillion over a decade from health care and food assistance, mainly stemming from new work requirements for those receiving aid and differences in how states can fund their programs through a provider tax. The bill also contains a $50 billion fund called the Rural Health Transformation Program, which has been framed as a way to offset losses for providers due to some of its provisions. Vance's comments were met with pushback from some social media users. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) tore into his claims about rural hospitals, writing on X that 'Donald Trump's Big Ugly Bill puts 29 rural hospitals in New York on the chopping block.' 'Lying through his teeth,' she said. 'We will hold you — and your boss — accountable." MeidasTouch, a progressive network, posted that 'Rural hospitals are literally closing because of this bill. He is lying. This is beyond cruel and evil.' One user said: 'At least he believes what he's saying. Doesn't help all of the rural clinics that had to close because they lost funding. Or the major hospitals that had to cut back on services because their funding was pulled as well.' 'The simplicity in which he lies should be really concerning to people. Thankfully he's about as likable as sitting on a thumbtack,' a different user said. Someone had attached a screenshot of a story from Health Affairs, which argues that the bill does not protect rural hospitals, adding 'No, you guys are going to close rural hospitals.' Vance also went on to say that the Trump administration's health care policy is 'very simple.' 'Whether you're in a big city or a small town, we're going to fight for your access to health care. Whether you're an American citizen who's been here for 70 years, or an American citizen who's been here for two years, we're going to fight for your access to a government that serves you,' Vance said. 'But if you're an illegal alien, you do not deserve government-paid health care benefits. You need to get out of our country, and that's simple as that,' he continued. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
State senator unveils new evidence suggesting NY's massive $11B homecare contract was rigged
New York lawmakers on Thursday unveiled new bombshell evidence suggesting Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration allegedly rigged a massive contract process for an $11 billion Medicaid home healthcare program. Aggravated state senators called the hearing in Lower Manhattan following months of controversy over the revamp of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program. The lawmakers spent hours grilling Health Commissioner James McDonald and executives of Public Partnerships LLC, the company that was awarded the no-bid contract to manage the CDPAP scheme. Advertisement State Sen. James Skoufis (D-Orange) who chairs the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, led the testy hearing — scrutinizing whether the process to award the contract, which could probe to be a windfall for PPL, was rigged in the firm's favor. He confronted McDonald with a draft of state legislation from April 2024 that would have handed the contract to PPL, suggesting officials weren't truly considering other companies. PPL eventually won the contract months later. 'There's a bill draft from early April that names PPL. It wasn't in the enacted version because the Senate pushed back on a no-bid contract, but the executive came to us naming PPL in a no-bid contract,' Skoufis charged. Advertisement 'Then, miraculously, PPL gets the award a few months later.' The existence of the draft bill was first noted by the Albany Times-Union in June. It reads: 'The department of health, through the commissioner, shall contract with Public Partnerships, LLC ('statewide FI') to provide on a statewide basis the services of a fiscal intermediary.' McDonald claimed he never saw the draft bill and maintained that the contract process was above board. 'Senator, I really don't know how to comment about a bill draft because I never saw that,' he said. Advertisement The governor pushed for the overhaul, ostensibly in order to cut down on rampant waste, fraud and abuse in the program, which had grown from $3 billion in 2018 to $11 billion in 2024, per McDonald's testimony. The overhaul involves consolidating hundreds of middlemen firms who acted as 'fiscal intermediaries' between Medicaid, which funds the program, and the home health aides employed by it under one company's umbrella. But many senators have soured on the move, after voting to approve it as part of last year's state budget. 3 State Sen. Jim Skoufis is promising a follow up after what he called 'seemingly unbelievable' statements by Health Commissioner James McDonald after Thursday's hearing. Vaughn Golden/NY Post Advertisement 3 Health Commissioner James McDonald maintained he had no knowledge of the draft legislation presented by Skoufis. Vaughn Golden/NY Post A PPL executive who was grilled later in the hearing claimed that the company had no contact with the governor's office or health department prior to the contract process beginning. 'The CEO down to you, down to every other employee at the firm did not have one single phone call, email, text, any conversation prior to enactment of the budget in May?' Skoufis pressed. 'Correct,' Patty Byrnes, PPL's vice president of government affairs said. In a statement, Hochul's office did not deny that it drafted the bill Skoufis presented, and maintained that the selection process for PPL was above board. 'The shift to a single fiscal intermediary went through a standard procurement process at DOH, following the law passed by the State Legislature – and no State officials knew who would be selected until the procurement process was complete,' a spokesperson for Hochul wrote in a statement. 3 A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul did not deny that her office drafted the version of the bill that would've awarded a no-bid contract for the program to PPL, months before it ultimately won a competitive bidding process that critics have alleged was rigged. Darren McGee /Office of Governor 'Now that we've ended the 'wild west' of the old system and moved to single fiscal intermediary with strong State oversight, New York can effectively protect CDPAP for home care users and workers and ensure the program delivers the best results for those who need it,' the statement said. Advertisement Several lawmakers were visibly furious with McDonald, who showed up apparently unprepared to cite specific data about the transition of hundreds of thousands of the program's recipients and their caregivers when asked. 'I didn't bring those numbers with me,' McDonald said, when asked by Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) to provide the number of workers who had been paid as of early April. McDonald also drew jeers from the audience and more ire from lawmakers when he claimed he wasn't aware of widely reported issues and bid rigging allegations surrounding the program. The health commissioner repeatedly blamed 'misinformation' for the agency and PPL's failure to ensure hundreds of thousands of homecare recipients and their caregivers were transition to the new middlemen by the statutory April 1 deadline. Advertisement 'I think you're just continuing to perpetuate the misrepresentation that you claim was bestowed upon this program,' state Sen. Siela Bynoe (D-Nassau) said, excoriating the health commissioner. 'You're not giving us numbers. You're not giving us data. You're not giving anything to refute the fact that this contract was not, in fact, transitioned properly to start, and that you have any type of guidelines, protocol and a process in place to ensure that you're maintaining what they are actually contractually required to give us,' she said. Harlem state Sen. Cordell Cleare (D-Manhattan) told Byrnes and McDonald that their responses were 'an insult' to New Yorkers. Advertisement Skoufis stopped short of calling McDonald a liar, but said his statements were 'seemingly unbelievable.' He and Rivera promised a follow up to the hearing, but did not specify if that meant subpoenaing for more information. 'A lot of the statements from both of them were stunning and seemingly unbelievable. And we're going to continue to pursue sort of those threads,' Skoufis said.
