Q&A with Kemp Hannon on Health and Hospitals

Q: What stood out in the governor’s State of the State and budget address?
KH: The specifics about what we wanted to deal with were the major amounts of power that they would proposed to the [state Health] Department in regards to what they call value-based pricing. We have a lot of questions about those details. We have a lot of questions about discontinuing the physician profile. We think there needs to be strengthening of the Doctors Across New York program to make sure that there are sufficient medical personnel in the non-urban areas of the state. We’ll take a look at how the global cap is proposed and the growth in regard to that. There is a startling proposal for an assessment on health insurance in the state. We were not expecting a proposed new tax. There is a reduction by 15 percent of a number of worthwhile public health programs, and I thought we’d had that debate last year, and that had been rejected previously.

C&S: The governor has proposed new capital spending on hospitals. Are there areas that need new hospital facilities or resources?
KH: There is a major program called DSRIP, which would reconfigure all healthcare provider relationships, and there would be a proposed reduction of 25 percent of hospital admissions in the state in four years. It would seem to be more logical that you’d use existing facilities if you’re going to have reduced admissions.

C&S: What are some important priorities for you?
KH: The governor was correct about having electronic cigarettes being included within the Clean Indoor Air Act. The promotion of the prevention agenda and the health improvement plan are really good objectives.