John W Rodat

Part of the Cost of Government is Wall Street Scam

June 23, 2012 Bonds

Buried deep within the structures of public finance is the cash for capital projects that has not yet been spent because projects take time. This cash sits in accounts that earn interest. And the interest paid is determined by auctions. But many of these auctions are rigged. Matt Taibbi, of Rolling Stone, covers a trial […]

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Managed Long Term Care and the Implications for Public Nursing Homes

June 12, 2012 County Government

As we discussed earlier, New York (and many other states) is moving its Medicaid policy toward managed long-term care. Here’s an excerpt of what we wrote earlier: First, the State finally decided to bring the rest of the Medicaid population into some form of capitated, case-managed care. When the State originally imposed mandatory managed care […]

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The “Unfunded Mandate” Gig. What Would Real Government Reform in NY Look Like?

June 7, 2012 Administration

As they do from time-to-time, all over New York, county officials are screaming about “unfunded mandates.” Candidates for the State Legislature are touting reforming “unfunded mandates” as an essential part of their platform. Even aside from the funded unmandates (read that carefully) of county nursing homes that so many still wish to maintain and some […]

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NYC Hospital Merger

June 7, 2012 Health Care

Here’s today’s big New York City hospital/health care story: NYU and Continuum take the first formal step toward merger. Interesting that even the NYT and presumably they still use their old names, Beth Israel and St. Lukes/Roosevelt. And where is that proverb from? “When elephants fight, the grass loses”? Or something like that.

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More on, and a Possible Correction on IGT

June 7, 2012 Budget

Last week, we noted that the Federal government wants some of its IGT money back. I’m not, not, not going to try to explain how this program works or why and how counties put up $.50 on one day and the next day their nursing homes get back $1.00. But during the recession, counties only […]

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Other NYS County Nursing Homes Being Sold

June 6, 2012 Budget

Despite intense objections, the Essex County, NY Board of Supervisors has voted 12-6 to sell its nursing home, Horace Nye. The 100 bed facility loses about $2 million per year. The sale price is $4.05 million. Essex County is also seeking an increase in its sales tax rate (from 3.75 to 4.0 percent). Mere coincidence? […]

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Accomodating Bicycles for Economic Development

June 4, 2012 Economic Development

Taking care of bicyclists is better for economic development? At least in cities Far and away, the biggest reason business owners resist the addition of bike infrastructure is that they’re afraid it will limit parking. Once they realize they can get 12 bike parking spaces for each car spot, sometimes they begin to change their […]

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The Health Care System in the US is Consuming its Consumers

May 31, 2012 Economics

The Health Care Cost Institute has released a new report, but which is still another reminder of why we cannot afford the US healthcare system. Last week, we pointed to a study that showed increasing dissatisfaction and increasing prices. The 2010 HCCI Health Care Cost and Utilization Report is the first report of its kind […]

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North Carolina Needs King Cnut

May 30, 2012 Forecasting

And speaking of science and politics, North Carolina is considering prohibiting, by law, sea level rise. Here’s House Bill 819. And here’s an appropriately snarky, commentary by Scott Huler in Scientific American. According to North Carolina law, I am a billionaire. I have a full-time nanny for my children, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, […]

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No. Intentional Ignorance Does Not Improve Public Policy. Or Politics. Or Business.

May 30, 2012 Census

Earlier this month the House of Representatives voted to eliminate funding for the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). Lest you think that my objection is nothing more than my geeky self looking for more data to bathe in, here are a couple of examples of how these data are used: Distributing $400 billion in […]

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