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Harckham Bill Helping to Guarantee Health Benefits for Volunteer Firefighters Passes in Senate

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Seal of the New York State Senate

The New York State Senate unanimously passed legislation this week sponsored by State Senator Pete Harckham that will help expand health benefits for volunteer firefighters. The legislation, when approved by the Assembly and enacted by the governor, will make permanent the long-standing law covering disability determinations for volunteer firefighters due to certain lung disabilities.

“Volunteer firefighters statewide often incur major diseases and ailments in the course of protecting our residents and businesses, so we must reciprocate and safeguard the health of these brave first responders whenever possible,” said Harckham. “This bill will eliminate a sunset clause for lung care while streamlining access to much deserved health benefits.”

Volunteer firefighters provide an invaluable service to New York State and our individual communities. Accordingly, it simply makes sense to prevent unnecessary worry on the part of volunteer firefighters and their families as to whether or not they will receive their benefits.

Harckham’s bill (S.1176) regarding firefighters with lung maladies will amend a 2006 law that grants important lung health care benefits, yet needs to be renewed through legislative approval and enacted every two years. Similar health benefits for full-time firefighters, though, do not need to go through the biannual approval process—even though career and volunteer firefighters are exposed to the same risks.

The risks are, indeed, significant. Lung disabilities for firefighters exceed those experienced by the average adult population in the U.S. In the line of duty, firefighters are exposed to gases, toxins and other substances that have damaging short- and long-term effects on the respiratory system. Some of the toxic gases and respiratory tract irritants that firefighters are at risk of inhaling include sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, phosgene, nitrous oxides, aldehydes and particulate matter.

The New York State Senate passed a similar bill introduced by Harckham last year, but the State Assembly did not approve the legislation. When enacted, the legislation will benefit over 80,000 volunteer firefighters and their families across New York.

“We would like to thank Senator Harckham for his hard work in getting this important piece of legislation again passed in the State Senate,” said Edward Tase, Jr., president of the Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY). “New York’s volunteer firefighters are exposed to dangerous chemicals while fighting fires that may cause lasting lung damage. FASNY wholeheartedly supports this legislation, which will take this long standing benefit and make it permanent, further strengthening this critical safety net for our volunteer firefighters. We are ready to work with the Assembly and we urge them to follow suit and pass this in their house.”

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Harckham, Paulin and Treatment Providers Blast Unfair, Punitive Medicaid Auditing Practices

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Albany, NY – New York State Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Amy Paulin, along with other legislators and behavioral health care, spoke in unison at a special press conference in the State Capitol today, calling for the FY2024-2025 State Budget to include a meaningful reform of current practices utilized by the NYS Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) when it audits healthcare agencies that provide essential services to New Yorkers with Medicaid insurance.

A new OMIG reform bill (S.5329D / A.6813), introduced by Harckham and Paulin, seeks to rectify tactics used during Medicaid audits conducted by the OMIG that are needlessly punitive and, ultimately, ineffective in preventing fraud and abuse in the healthcare system. These audits take time and resources away from healthcare and mental hygiene agencies providing essential services to New Yorkers with Medicaid insurance.

“New York patients cannot afford to lose any more behavioral health providers, especially over unintentional administrative errors,” said Harckham. “The senseless undermining of Substance Use Disorder programs in the middle of an opioid epidemic needs to stop. Let’s not lose sight that these programs save lives, so regulatory efforts should be in line with supporting and improving services, not harming them.”

“The role of the NYS Office of the Medicaid Inspector General is to root out fraud and abuse,” said Paulin. “However, this should not mean that OMIG should have the ability to wipe out entire programs and services based on technical errors, state system issues, or minor discrepancies, especially when the service was delivered appropriately. This practice is crippling and risks the continued viability of New York’s safety net system. I urge the Legislature to include the provisions of our bill in the budget to protect our health care providers and safeguard OMIG’s role in ensuring Medicaid’s integrity.”

Current OMIG audit practices include application of extrapolation to clerical errors, which has resulted in disproportionate findings and enormous fines that can shut down an entire program or impact a Medicaid provider. This practice has been devastating to providers and risks the continued viability of New York’s safety net system. 

               Clerical errors result in care providers being punished and financially crippled.  

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Government

Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Therapy Dog K9 Fez

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K9 Fez is the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office therapy dog. Fez is a 6 year-old Labrador retriever assigned to the Special Victims Unit – his goal is to help victims, especially children, feel comfortable and give them strength to tell their stories.

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