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A MILLION REASONS WHY
Thomas F. O'Mara
June 5, 2015
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Mayors, county executives and other local officials throughout the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, and statewide, continue to point to Medicaid as their heaviest financial burden.
That's why recent reports are so troubling.
These reports include two audits by the state comptroller’s office continuing to show that despite years of legislative efforts to rid New York’s Medicaid system of abuse, fraud and waste – efforts that included the creation of the Office of Medicaid Inspector General nearly a decade ago – not enough is being done.
In one prominent case earlier this year, nine New York doctors were indicted in Brooklyn as part of a $7-million Medicaid fraud scheme which took advantage of thousands of homeless people by luring them into offices for unnecessary medical testing in exchange for free sneakers.
Recent legislation approved by the Senate would help root out Medicaid abuse, fraud and waste.
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![The veterans in the front row are, from left to right: William J. Johnson of Glen Cove, Audley Coulthurst of Harlem, Wilford R. DeFour of Harlem, and Herbert C. Thorpe of Brooklyn. Michael Joseph of Corning is standing to Senator O’Mara’s immediate left in the photo.](/sites/default/files/styles/760x377/public/tuskegeeairemen-newweb.jpg?itok=T7UQxlTq)
!["The future of public transportation in our rural, Upstate regions is being put at risk by Albany’s ongoing attempt at a statewide, one-size-fits-all approach to these local systems," said Senator O'Mara.](/sites/default/files/styles/760x377/public/schuylerbusbannerpark4_0.jpg?itok=2N2wzZoV)