The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 3

www.thejoumalnews.com Region The Journal News Tuesday, January 29, 2002 3A Briefing cities Health bill called too friendly Hospitals get state money Hospitals are slated to get about $700 million in state money over the next three years to boost salaries and take other steps to recruit workers. The following chart shows how much hospitals in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam are in line to get in 2002-03 and over the entire three years. Putnam 2002-03 Three years Putnam Hospital $228,015 $1,329,198 Rockland Nyack $411,125 $2,396,625 Summit Park 257,964 1.503,785 Good Samaritan 421,609 2,457,744 Helen Hayes 196,196 1,143,709 Westchester Children's $114,596 $668,030 Burke Rehabilitation 184,244 1,074.037 Dobbs Ferry 49,878 290,761 Lawrence 263,554 1,536,374 Mount Vernon 218,040 1,271,052 Northern Westchester 300,927 1,754,235 Phelps 300,723 1,753,043 St. Agnes 206,044 1,201,120 St John's Riverside 325,843 1,899,480 St. Joseph 346,679 2,020,943 Sound Shore 441,355 2,572,851 New York United Hospital 237,755 1,385,979 Westchester Medical Center 1,224,737 7,139,529 White Plains 429,470 2,503,568 Yonkers General 182,734 1,065,236 Source: Senate Republicans Some nursing homes lose Nursing homes will receive $505 million over three years to boost salaries, but they are also subject to a new 6 percent tax on revenues.

The following shows estimates of how much homes will gain from the salary money and lose from the tax over the next three years. The final number is the gain or loss. The estimates don't include $218 million in grants the state plans to give nursing homes. Some see upstate units shortchanged in state funding Melissa Klein and Erika Rosenberg The Journal News ALBANY The state's new multibillion-dollar health package shortchanges nursing homes and home-care providers outside New York City, according to some lawmakers and health groups. The bill approved by lawmakers and signed Friday by Gov.

George Pataki sends 58 percent of hospital funding, almost half of nursing-home money and more than 90 percent of home-care funding to New York City, according to estimates by the Legislature and various health-care associations. Nursing homes, like hospitals, will get additional money to hire and retain staff. But the nursing homes will pay a new 6 percent tax on revenue, which some industry groups say disproportionately affects the ones outside of the city. "There's a huge number of facilities that would actually lose money," said Robert Murphy, lobbyist for the New York State Health Facilities Association. The group represents about 300 homes, mostly for-profit institutions.

Those nursing homes that rely more on patients who pay out of their own pockets or with private insurance, rather than through the government's Medicaid program, are expected to be hardest hit by the tax. New York City facilities typically have more Medicaid patients. One home, the 60-bed Bayberry Nursing Home in New Rochelle, is expected to lose an estimated $250,000 a year during the next three years, according to its owner, Leonard Russ. "We are going to be taxed maybe 10 times as much as we're going to get back," Russ said. "So we will actually have less money considerably less money for recruiting and retaining staff than we had before this bill was versus downstate at all.

A remarkable thing happened we got money for hospitals and nursing homes across the state," said Marshall Blake, president of Service Employees International Union 1199 Upstate, which represents 15,000 health workers. The bill passed in the middle of the night after Pataki insisted that lawmakers act on it quickly and before most health-care groups had time to analyze it. Assemblyman Richard Brod-sky, D-Greehburgh, said the legislation, which he supported, was far better than an earlier proposal by Pataki. "Raising the salaries of healthcare workers is a very important thing," Brodsky said. "We needed to do this." Most hospitals in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties will receive more than $1 million each during the next three years for staff salaries and recruitment Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, the region's biggest hospital, will get the most money, $7.14 million.

"I'm delighted," said Edward Stolzenberg, the medical center's president "I think it will give us an ability to settle some of our union contracts in a more favorable way." Nurses at the hospital have been working without a contract since last April. Some say the legislation will not achieve its goal of easing a shortage of health-care workers by raising salaries at least not in nursing homes and most home-care agencies. "The expectations that have been created are unrealistic," said Carl Young, executive director of the New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. The group represents more than 300 nursing homes, mostly nonprofits. "They're unfair to the workers, and they're unfair to the providers who are going to be beset by (salary) demands." The political muscle behind the deal came from the New York City-based health-care union, also called 1199 SEIU, which represents more than 200,000 workers.

The union had hundreds of workers at a rally outside the Capitol the day before the bill passed and is now running newspaper advertisements thanking Pataki and the Legislature. Some say that's why New York City providers fared better in the package. "I think it's loaded up for New York City," said state Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Albany. "It's apparent that it was targeted and labeled for 1199." The bill is expected to cost as much as $4 billion over the next three years and will be paid for by a 39-cent cigarette tax increase, a $1 billion windfall from the conversion of the state's largest health insurer to a for-profit company and increased federal funding state officials hope to win from Congress and President Bush.

Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, said she did not vote for the bill because of its reliance on the federal money. "I felt that basing a health-care plan on a wish from Washington that money is going to be sent to us was not appropriate at this time," Galef said. Under the legislation, hospitals will receive funding based on their 1999 payroll, so the higher their salaries, the more they receive under the bill. Nursing homes also will receive money for wages based on the 1999 payroll, as well as grants that will go to needy homes that apply. But the homes also will pay an estimated $337 million because of the new tax.

Aides to Pataki pointed out that nursing homes will receive another $920 million over the next three years due to cost-of-living increases in Medicaid funding. Home-care providers will receive about $964 million over four years to improve wages, but $895 million of it will go to New York City's home attendant program, said Carol Ro-dat, president of the Home Care Association of New York State. Reach Melissa Klein at 914-694-5063 or mkleinthejournalnews.com. Sen. Nicholas Spano, R-Yonkers.

"This is not an abortion bill. It's a common-sense approach. It's a crime-victims bill." But a spokesman for the Catholic Conference said Catholic hospitals would violate church policy if they provided birth control to rape victims after conception occurred. The hospitals can provide emergency contraception if medical tests show that a woman's egg has not yet been fertilized, said spokesman Dennis Poust 1 a4 T193 .99 in rebate ALBANY Spano gets key committee chair Sen. Nicholas Spano took over the Senate Committee on Investigations, Taxation and Government Operations, officials announced yesterday in a shuffle of appointments triggered by a departure.

Spano, R-Yonkers, replaced Roy Goodman, who retired after more than 30 years in the Senate to join the administration of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Sen. Guy Velella, R-Bronx, who also represents part of Westchester County, replaced Spano as chairman of the Senate Labor Committee. Velella previously served as the Senate's liasion to the executive branch. NEW YORK CITY DNA matches fail for some WTC victims Some toothbrushes, hairbrushes, razors and other items submitted by World Trade Center victims' families in hopes of identifying remains of their loved ones did not yield enough DNA for a match, officials said yesterday.

The city medical examiner announced a Web site and telephone hot line that families can access to find out if they need to provide another sample. The DNA information Web site is: http:www.nyc.govdna. The telephone hot line is: 212-447-7884. WTC subway stop on train line reopens Commuters poured out of the train and into the subway line's newly reopened World Trade Center stop yesterday. Workers praised the suddenly shorter commute and the less-crowded train cars.

The train traverses Queens and midtown, and Chambers Street is its final stop in Manhattan. After Sept 11, train riders had to change to an A or train at Canal Street, about a half-mile north, to get downtown to Chambers. The Chambers Street station, though undamaged by the attack, is on the northeastern edge of the World Trade Center complex. Some station entrances will stay shut NYPD warns masked forum protesters Bracing for large-scale protests at the World Economic Forum, the NYPD said yesterday it would enforce an 1845 law barring demonstrators from wearing masks. Chief of Patrol Joseph Es-posito said the department would strictly enforce state law prohibiting three or more protesters from hiding their faces.

"Three or more with masks and they're marching they're under arrest" Esposito said while outlining security measures. Protest organizers say many demonstrators plan to don costumes or march with giant papier-mache puppets some worn over their heads to emphasize their anti-globalization message. Nearly 4,000 police officers will be deployed to secure the streets around the Waldorf-Astoria hotel on Park Avenue, the WEF headquarters. Jury tells Starbucks to pay to woman A Manhattan jury awarded a Long Island woman $3.5 million yesterday for burns she suffered when steam and coffee exploded from a Starbucks espresso machine onto her right hand, leaving it horribly disfigured. "She has a clawed, ugly, horrible, painful hand, and she's going to have it for the rest of her life," her lawyer said in closing remarks yesterday.

The state Supreme Court jury of six women voted to give Dawn Samperisi, 36, of Glen Cove, N.Y., $4.6 million but held her 25 percent liable for the accident and reduced the award. Starbucks' lawyer, Ray Slat-tery, acknowledged that an accident occurred in the company's coffee shop and that Samperisi was burned, but he told the jury, "She is just as responsible for the accident as Starbucks is." Compiled from wire reports. Net galn(loss) 562,580 (6,929,570) Association be cut in the $88.6 billion state budget proposed this week by Pataki because state revenues are expected to fall $5.7 billion short of expectations. "It isn't a question of upstate planned to pass the same version it approved last year. But the measure's sponsor said she's hopeful the two houses can compromise this year.

Some Republican senators said yesterday they believe a narrower conscience clause applying only to religious workers might work as a compromise. Modeled after a California law, such a measure would mean Catholic parish workers would not get coverage for birth control, but Catholic hospital workers would. A Westchester County nurse Tax costs $370,612 13,056,849 24,866,403 Women's groups push contraceptive, emergency birth control legislation who specializes in caring for rape victims said the last thing they should have to do after enduring what is commonly a three-hour medical examination to collect evidence is worry about how to get birth control. They want to go home. They want to take a shower.

They want to crawl up into their beds," said Karen Coleman, a nurse with Victims Assistance Services in Elms-ford. "It's a struggle to get some of my colleagues to understand that these issues are important," said County Putnam Rockland 1 Westchester Salary money $318,782 13,619,429 ,17,936,833 Source: New York State Health Facilities Yvonne LinThe Journal News passed." Others say the package is a great boon to all health-care providers, regardless of location. Before the bill passed, many were worried that their funding would coverage stalled last year after the Republican-controlled Senate included a "conscience clause" allowing religious employers to opt out of the requirement. The Democrat-dominated Assembly would not go along. The divisions remain.

"The Assembly is looking to force religious organizations to do things that are against their beliefs and practices," said John McAr-dle, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick. "We recognize that protecting religious freedom is important" The two houses passed different versions of the bill, which also expands insurance coverage for mammograms and screenings for cervical cancer and osteoporosis. Yesterday, the Assembly New Jersey cd (845)356-2570 p.c. chestnut Rad u. Chestnut Ridge, NY WWW.

I Erika Rosenberg Albany Bureau ALBANY Hoping that election-year politics will work in their favor, women's advocates yesterday pushed for stalled bills that would provide emergency birth control to rape victims and require all employers to include birth-control coverage in health-insurance plans. "If time to end discrimination in New York state. It is time to offer women contraceptive coverage as a basic part of prescription coverage," said JoAnn Smith, president of Family Planning Advocates. The statewide group brought about 1,000 members to Albany for its annual conference this week. Efforts to mandate birth-control New York antrowitz, raif man IT iw ojPmrtirinj Common side effects may include dry mouth.

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