Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Eliot Spitzer just nominated James G. Sheehan to serve as New York State Medicaid Inspector General.

Medicaid is the state's most expensive program, and Spitzer's effort to reduce the cost of the program led to a bruising budget fight with health care groups who engaged in a highly nasty exchange of negative ads against him.

From the governor's statement on Sheehan:

"As a career prosecutor specializing in complex health care enforcement and recovery matters, Mr. Sheehan has experience rooting out fraud that dramatically drives up costs and severely threatens the efficiency and delivery of health care services."

More on Sheehan after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

The state budget isn't finalized, but agreements on key fronts were announced last night:

$350 in health care spending was restored (coupled with federal matching funds will bring a few more million to the health care industry here).

Eliot Spitzer still gets to claim $1 billion in Medicaid spending cuts, namely from health insurance and pharmaceutical companies (not hospitals and nursing homes).

$500 million in additional education spending was added, which should make Long Island Republican senators happy.

To hit the April 1 deadline, and circumvent the rule requiring bills to age for 3 days, Spitzer may have to send a "message necessity," a technique Pataki used often which left rank and file legislator voting on stuff they hadn't read.

I'm done blabbering.

-- Azi Paybarah

This doesn't bode well for an on-time budget.

At what was supposed to be a bipartisan, bicameral meeting in Albany just now to discuss the state budget, only Republicans showed up.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno said that his conference would work through the weekend with Democrats to reconcile differences in Medicaid spending, school aide and other budget issues.

If only everybody would come to the table.

One senator, Thomas Libous of the Southern tier said "the law is being broken," because Democrats weren't participating in the meeting.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco referred to it a "strike against openness and transparency."

Ten days until deadline.

-- Azi Paybarah

Charlie Rangel, who said he doesn't want to see the debate about Medicaid spending turn into a "food fight," seemed ready for one on Saturday in Long Island City, where he was awarded the the Kung Hwa Medal by the Korean government.

[Photo credit: Grace Meng.]

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer's claims about the reasons for high Medicaid costs are called into doubt. A poll conducted by a group opposing Spitzer's health care plan say the governor's popularity has dropped 21 percent.

Bills to restore Spitzer's proposed reductions in Medicaid spending were introduced in the state legislature.

On health care, Republicans are attacking Spitzer from the left.

Senator Charles Schumer wants US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to quit.

Rev. Al Sharpton is not on board with Barack Obama.

Spitzer, Schumer and Mayor Bloomberg will meet today to discuss the Javits Center expansion.

Millions a year are spent on education officials who Schools Chancellor Joel Klein can't fire, but wants to.

The number of restaurants closed by health inspectors since rats were seen running around a Village restaurant has tripled.

There is a bill in the Assembly to boost salaries for legislators and judges automatically every four years.

And Tom Suozzi is trying to recruit the Nassau Conservative Party Chairman to run for office.

-- Azi Paybarah

Representative Charlie Rangel just called now to explain his strident and surprisingly personal objections to Eliot Spitzer's health care spending plan, which included an assertion that the governor has an anger problem.

In a brief interview with Rangel just now, he said, "We're going to have to clear the air if we're going to operate as professionals. Period. No further comment."

He went on to say that the whole debate is "very unpleasant for me," and "we're not going to be distracted by television ads."

The conversation also included this fun exchange:

CR: So, I don't want to get any further involved. I will be getting further involved, but not where you're taking me.

AP: I'm not trying to take you anywhere.

CR: Well you should, if you're a professional reporter...

The full transcript is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer just revised his budget proposal to the state legislature.

The amendments include a salary increase for District Attorneys ($1.1 million) and restores "funding for personal care level 1 in Medicaid" to the tune of $6 million.

The budget amendments can be seen over here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Remember Hillary Clinton's tough talk yesterday about the impact New York hospitals would feel thanks to president Bush's proposed budget?

Well, Dennis Rivera and Ken Raske, guys who represent health care workers and hospitals, respectively, are putting Hillary's statements yesterday to work in their public campaign against Eliot Spitzer's budget.

In a letter the two men sent to Spitzer, and reporters, they quoted Hillary saying that GME "is one of the reasons why American health care is so good. Because we invest in the training of those who take care of us. That too is on the chopping block."

One thing worth noting is that before Hillary lavished praise onto the GME program yesterday and, ostensibly, took a swipe at Spitzer's budget, she explained where her information about some of these cuts were coming from.

From Hillary's remarks at yesterday's press conference:

"And Ken Raske just told me the budget eliminates Medicaid payments for something called Graduate Medical Education. Now that would cut, according to Ken's calculation, $1.2 billion to the state of New York."

It's safe to say Spitzer's information about the program was coming from someone else.

-- Azi Paybarah

I've been wondering what, if any, political parallels exist between the president's plan to slash federal spending on health care programs and Eliot Spitzer's move to reduce the level state spending.

At a press conference today to denounce the Bush health care cuts, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer both indicated that the president's proposals are different in substance and spirit than Spitzer's.

At the same time, Schumer said he didn't agree with all of Spitzer's cuts, although he declined to specify which ones.

Shortly afterwards, Hillary singled out the president's multi-million-dollar cut to the Graduate Medical Education program (GME).

She said, "And Ken Raske [President of the Greater New York Hospital Association] just told me the budget eliminates Medicaid payments for something called Graduate Medical Education. Now that would cut, according to Ken's calculation, $1.2 billion to the state of New York. Now, what is that money used for? It is used to train physicians, nurses, health care professionals. That's one of the reasons why America's health care is so good. Because we invest in the training of those who take care of us. That too is on the chopping block."

When I asked Hillary about Spitzer's intention to cut the same program, she said, "I don't know."

-- Azi Paybarah

"We face a real challenge on health care that we must confront head on. This is exactly the wrong approach."

She's talking about the president's cuts. But -- and this is just a personal guess -- I'm betting certain unions will be looking to draw comparisons here with the health care spending cuts in Eliot Spitzer's proposed budget.  read more »

Hillary's full statement after the jump.

-- Azi Paybarah

As part of their ongoing attempt to make the case against Eliot Spitzer's cutbacks in health care spending, 1199 SEIU and the Greater New York Hospitals Association released a list of reasons not to cut any money from Medicaid.

Among them was this one:

"Medicaid spending has already been controlled."

Hmm.

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer is still talking to reporters, but in the meantime, 1199 is already doing its best to pour water on his health care agenda.

An unusually harsh joint statement from 1199 and the Greater New York Hospital Association said that Spitzer's statements were "riddled with inaccuracies" and that there is "nothing strategic or policy-minded about a freeze in spending." (In other words, they're practically daring the press to portray this as a positive reform.)  read more »

The whole long, bluntly worded statement is after the jump.

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer is presenting his budget to lawmakers right now in a meeting not advertised as an open press event, but they're letting us in anyway. It's essentially the same thing he's about to say in a more formal speech he's to make reporters and the public.

Spitzer explained his "hard choices" (health care cuts), but said that the state would now be able cover uninsured New Yorkers despite the fact that spending on health care will be greatly reduced.

"We will use Medicaid dollars to pay for Medicaid patients," Spitzer said, as opposed to the program being a general subsidy for institutions whose continued operations weren't necessarily justified by the number of patients they served.

1199 SEIU should have an interesting response to all this.

-- Azi Paybarah

The video announcing that Hillary Clinton is taking the first steps at running for president is (finally) here.

I announced today that I am forming a presidential exploratory committee.

I'm not just starting a campaign, though, I'm beginning a conversation -- with you, with America. Because we all need to be part of the discussion if we're all going to be part of the solution. And all of us have to be part of the solution.

Let's talk about how to bring the right end to the war in Iraq and to restore respect for America around the world.

How to make us energy independent and free of foreign oil.

How to end the deficits that threaten Social Security and Medicare.

And let's definitely talk about how every American can have quality affordable health care.

You know, after six years of George Bush, it is time to renew the promise of America. Our basic bargain that no matter who you are or where you live, if you work hard and play by the rules, you can build a good life for yourself and your family.

I grew up in a middle-class family in the middle of America, and we believed in that promise.

I still do. I've spent my entire life trying to make good on it.

Whether it was fighting for women's basic rights or childrens' basic health care. Protecting our Social Security, or protecting our soldiers. It's a kind of basic bargain, and we've got to keep up our end.

So let's talk. Let's chat. Let's start a dialogue about your ideas and mine.

Because the conversation in Washington has been just just a little one-sided lately, don't you think? And we can all see how well that works.

And while I can't visit everyone's living room, I can try. And with a little help from modern technology, I'll be holding live online video chats this week, starting Monday.

So let the conversation begin. I have a feeling it's going to be very interesting.

Oh, and yes, she's wearing the cross again.

Update: Here is a statement from Barack Obama: Senator Clinton is a good friend and colleague whom I greatly respect. I welcome her and all the candidates, not as competitors, but as allies in the work of getting our country back on track.

Update II: Here's Chuck Schumer statement: "Hillary has done a superb job both campaigning and governing in New York, and she'll do an even better job as President."

-- Azi Paybarah

1199 SEIU, the powerful health care workers union, has announced that they're endorsing Republican state Senate candidate Maureen O'Connell in the special election in Nassau.

As Liz notes, the move is a sign of the tension that exists between union president Dennis Rivera and Governor Eliot Spitzer, who have very different views of health care spending. It's also an indication of the union's enduring (and pragmatic) alliance with Joe Bruno and the Senate Republicans who are, after all, still in the majority.

In the all-politics-is-local category, the 1199 announcement contains another reason for the endorsement: O'Connell is a former nurse who sided with them while serving in the Assembly. From the release:

"Among the highlights of O'Connell's healthcare record are her staunch support of major pieces of healthcare legislation including the Health Care Reform Act (HCRA), budget bills that restored billions to the Medicaid program and legislation that expanded Medicaid for persons diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer."

-- Azi Paybarah

One thing not mentioned at Andrew Cuomo's swearing-in ceremony yesterday was the issue of Medicaid fraud, which I seem to remember being a pretty big deal around the beginning of the attorney general race.

Cuomo's spokeswoman, Wendy Katz, said confirmed that Cuomo is planning to do something fairly dramatic about it by creating a position of deputy attorney general for Medicaid fraud. Although the attorney general's office already has a solicitor general Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to tackle that issue, she said, the new position will reflect "an increase in prominence."

She didn't say who might fill the position or when it might come into being.

Cuomo perviously addressed the issue when he penned an op-ed article explaining that New York is losing 20 percent of money it recovers from Medicaid fraud because it doesn't have its own False Claims Act to protect whistle blowers.

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer's plan for Medicaid could cut the number of uninsured New Yorkers in half.

Spitzer also gave lawmakers some things they wanted, like more dollars for education and property tax cuts.

Spitzer was critical of the pace of rebuilding Ground Zero.

Nine more human bones were found near Ground Zero.

Spitzer will be tested in finding a way to pay for his initiatives without raising taxes.

Rudy Giuiliani's travel schedule shows he spent more time giving paid speeches than campaigning in presidential battleground states. A spokeswoman for the governor of Florida confirmed they found the piece of luggage that contained Giuliani's papers, but insisted they didn't make copies of it.

The city is investigating 13 cases of Medicaid fraud.

Henry Kissinger and others pen an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about nuclear weapons.

It's okay to have a man-crush on Spitzer.

And has the president been reading your mail?

-- Azi Paybarah

With the commitment to reduce the number of hospital beds in the state, Eliot Spitzer signaled he was going to expand another area of health care.

"We will introduce a budget that, in the very first year, guarantees access to health insurance for all of New York's 500,000 uninsured children. And within four years, we will further cut the number of uninsured. Using a new streamlined enrollment process that guards against fraud, we will enroll the 900,000 uninsured Medicaid-eligible adults."

So, it sounds like health care workers won't be at a total loss under a Spitzer administration, since all those new patience are going to need nurses and hospital workers to help them along.

-- Azi Paybarah

Just days before George Pataki leaves office, New York City has announced plans to participate in a state-run program to detect Medicaid fraud.

The city's participation in the program was required as part of a federal agreement earlier this year that sent $300 million to NYC annually for health care restructuring here, and it is structured to allow the city to keep a quarter of the money recovered.

The agreement also represents a late -- and lately, rare - political victory for the governor, who will be able to claim the deal as the capstone to a series of health care reforms that took place under his watch. They include putting Medicaid recipients in a more efficiently run managed healthcare system, creating the Medicaid Inspector General's office and helping to organize the Berger Commission on hospital closings.

According to Pataki spokesman David Catalfamo, the state had been in continual negotiations with the city over the past six months in an effort to put the deal together this year.

"We didn't stop working when the election was over and we didn't stop working when he said he wasn't running for re-election," he said.

-- Azi Paybarah

With all the (self-induced) buzz about Mike Bloomberg's presidential run, it is easy to forget he still has to deal with local issues, like traffic.

Streetsblog notes that's the issue Bloomberg is being to task over, by Manhattan's Gale Brewer and Scott Stringer, who both want to explore congestion pricing.

Gridlock may be the last vestige of New York's legacy as an ungovernable city. And if he can solve that, how tough can Medicaid and Social Security be to solve?

-- Azi Paybarah

Conquering adversity is the common theme in the autobiographical accounts of American politicians fr  read more »

Andrew Cuomo's team announced today they were endorsed by Citizens Union.

This could be an important tool for Cuomo, who's been on the receiving end of Mark Green's comparison campaign and attacked by Jeanine Pirro as being unqualified.

Interestingly, in announcing their preferences [full statement after the jump], the group says:

"Citizens Union was also pleased to see Cuomo stress the need to partner with local district attorneys in addressing systemic enforcement issues such as Medicaid fraud ... "

When Cuomo mentioned this idea during the NY1 debate, Green was quick to call it a bad idea.  read more »

Update: C.U.'s kind words for Mark Green, Sean Maloney and Charlie King are after the jump, and in their press release. -- Azi Paybarah

The Times reports state lawmakers have reached agreements on Medicaid fraud and an expanded DNA database.

The Daily News reports Peter Kalikow will not resign if requested to do so by the next governor.

The Albany Times Union reports Senate Democrats are crying foul over George Pataki's appointments, extending his influence into the next governor's term.

—Nicole Brydson

So Eliot Spitzer finally came out with a detailed tax relief plan, and it looks like it contains a little something for everyone: $6 billion dollars in property tax cuts over three years paid for by Medicaid budget cuts, among other things, with the relief apportioned on a progressive scale.

It's not a particularly original idea -- cutting property taxes has been a central theme of Tom Suozzi's campaign.

But Spitzer's proposal effectively removes another differentiating factor from the primary, making it a race between two guys with the same positions, one of whom is much better-known than the other.

All that's left for Suozzi to do is remind people that he was there first.

From a Suozzi release: "I am grateful that after seven and a half years in Albany, a year and half as a candidate for governor, and three months of dodging the issue that I have made a cornerstone of my campaign, Eliot Spitzer has finally agreed with me that New Yorkers deserve property tax relief."

For what it's worth.

- Jason Horowitz

John Faso's campaign is working hard to keep the flames of the the Farrell gaffe alive as long as possible.

Today he prepares to talk taxes again at a conference in Saratoga Springs.

"He will be focusing on a relief agenda for property tax payers, local governments, and Medicaid," said Susan Del Percio, Mr. Faso's spokeswoman.

"For John Faso, cutting taxes is a top priority, and you heard that for the Democratic Party leaders and Denny Farrell, that it is not their top priority."

We'll see when Eliot Spitzer rolls out his own tax plan, also in Saratoga, this afternoon.

"I think that one thing is certain," Del Percio said. "Whatever he ends up proposing, how is he going to pay for it? Cutting the property tax and increasing the income tax is just shifting the burden. How will he pay for it?"

- Jason Horowitz

On Tuesday evening, hours before the annual board meeting of Continuum Health Partners, the sprawlin  read more »

And they're off ...

Crain's is reporting that the Greater New York Hospital Association and the powerful 1199-SEIU health care workers' union have finally thrown down the legal gauntlet and sued Governor Pataki to restore $110 million in Medicaid funding.

The lawsuit is the latest volley in a protracted budgetary ping pong game that has been playing out in Albany between Pataki, the Legislature, and the state's various powerhouse health care interests. In a nutshell, it asks the court to rule that the Legislature has the constitutional right to reinstate the funds and that the governor must enact them.

The lawsuit is also a pointed reminder of how much as changed since that March morning in 2002 when Dennis Rivera endorsed Pataki with the words: "Never in the history of 1199 SEIU, has a Governor of this State demonstrated such unwavering commitment to the delivery of quality healthcare or been so responsive to the needs of the workers, the patients, and the entire healthcare industry, as has Governor Pataki."

We guess this means that Rivera probably wants to amend that statement.

-- Lizzy Ratner

George W.  read more »

The Governor's rather tame vetoes yesterday are expected to snowball into significant ones today. Here's The Sun on what's expected:

To the alarm of lawmakers, he's taking aim at some of their most cherished spending items, like the Senate's program to give millions of New Yorkers property tax rebate checks. He's also using the court's decision to confront lawmakers on Medicaid spending, which he says is too high. And he's vetoing the Legislature's entire revenue bill because it doesn't include a pro-school choice measure that would give tuition tax credits to low-income parents.

This rather presidential-looking move (hello, Red States! I'm a fiscal conservative!) is obvious enough.

One question: won't it further damage Republican candidates upstate, where voters are watching the appropriations closely to gauge this administration's commitment to improving their economic forecast? Or will Joe Bruno be able to protect Republicans upstate by further distancing himself from Pataki?

Here he is on the Pataki "nuclear option" yesterday:

He said it would be "very unfortunate and tragic" if the governor struck down the Legislature's property tax rebate program.

- Tom McGeveran

Investment banker Stephen Berger was sitting in his office high above midtown Manhattan on a recent  read more »

Investment banker Stephen Berger was sitting in his office high above midtown Manhattan on a recent  read more »

Bill Weld came out today with a big, clear, simple idea: Eliminate income tax for the first $75,000 of income.

Only hitch: the $6.9 billion price tag. Weld suggested he'll pay for it by laying off public employees and tossing people off Medicaid.

This should, actually, be the substantive heart of the race for Governor, a job which is largely about steering huge rivers of money here and there. Tom Suozzi got a bit tangled up on NY1 last night when asked about what he would cut to reduce property taxes. (He, too, picked a big Medicaid number, and promised to explain more soon.)

And Eliot Spitzer, who downplays the easy savings from Medicaid, seems to think that he can find money on the margins. In Long Island earlier this year, he told an argument that money for cutting taxes or new spending would come from the "delta" (in the mathematical sense) between the natural increase in state revenues (natural, as long as the economy is good) and the ideally-less-rapid grown in costs.

That's at best a narrow little fiscal raft, freighted with quite a lot.

(If you want some great comparative numbers on New York State's spending, Larry Littlefield has the data, with charts, in his lesser-known online reference classic straightorwardly titled State and Local Government Taxes, Spending, Debt, Employment and Average Pay in New York City, Other Parts of New York State, and Other States: Comprehensive, Comparative Data From the Census of Governments. Great data, very clearly presented, if a couple of years old.)

You know that line-item veto that President Bush is pushing at the moment?

Here's what Rudy's press office had to say back in 1998:

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today congratulated Senators Alfonse D'Amato and Daniel Patrick Moynihan on the crucial roles they played in protecting $2.6 billion in Medicaid funding for New York City and State. On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 6-3 margin, struck down as unconstitutional the Line Item Veto Act adopted by Congress in 1996. The decision protects New York City hospitals against a loss of federal Medicaid funds that could have been as great as $2.6 billion.

The Sun's editorial board has more.

The City Council has over-ridden Mike's veto on legislation targeting companies like Wal-Mart, which would force big grocers to cover employee health-care, and the matter is headed to court.

The argument made by the anti-Wal Mart camp is that these corporations push their health costs onto the public sector, receiving a kind of stealth subsidy via Medicaid. (The Post's grumbles here; Adrianne Shropshire's praise here.)

But the grocers aren't the only ones ducking health costs. As one reader notes, the City of New York does its best to push its own health-care costs onto the private sector, via cash payments to employees who opt out of city health-care in favor of a spouse's (for example) private plan.

The details of the plan are on the site of the Office of Labor Relations. Here's the summary:

"The MSC Health Benefits Buy-Out Waiver Program allows eligible employees who can obtain non-City group health benefits to waive their New York City health benefits in return for an annual cash incentive payment."

Virginia and Eliot got to rub elbows last night at a meeting of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, which took place at the Marriot Marquis in Times Square. (Is that part of Greater Harlem?)

After Virginia's intro of Eliot ("Can you go on a little longer next tie, I'd enjoy that"), the Attorney General got down to some political speak directed at, presumably, Tom Suozzi.

Paraphrasing here: We can't simply say we'll cut Medicaid by 10%; that would shut down some hospitals.

Before dashing out to some other event not on his public schedule, I threw Eliot a question about that United Arab of Emirates port deal.

He supported the congressional scrutiny of the deal because security at the ports could be "impacted by foreign ownership..."

--Azi Paybarah

The black Ford Crown Victoria that Eliot Spitzer uses on official business is Car Four, ranking him  read more »

Having established his credibility by improving Medicare and strengthening Social Security, George W  read more »

It didn't seem quite right to ask the Nassau County Executive to do the interview via instant message, as has been the Friday routine on The Politicker, so I got myself slotted into his extensive call list, as he launches his version of a pre-campaign listening tour, which he expects to extend for somewhere between "several weeks and two months."

Suozzi said his "New York a United State" tour would give him a chance to "travel throughout the state and talk about management, fiscal discipline, and government reform" as well as "my experience at solving complex governmental problems" and the problems of various New Yorkers. And he said that he'd like to start talking about the issues right away, offering a general framework that you find the money to cut taxes, spend more on schools, upstate jobs, and housing, by cutting Medicaid fraud.

Then we talked some politics.

Suozzi said he wasn't worried about his outsider status. (Being an official maverick has got to be the next best thing to having lots of support among insiders!)

"I've always been in a position where I had to run against the establishment," he said. "It gives me some independence to focus on government reform and change and solving problems without the baggage of the establishment holding me back."

He also said he expects state party leaders to try to prevent him from getting on the ballot. "I expect that. It makes it tougher."

As for Eliot, no scorched earth here.

"I have nothing bad to say about Eliot Spitzer. He deserves the reputation he enjoys." As? "As one of the top Attorney Generals in the country."

But what about that little case involving one of your constituents, a Mr., um, Langone?

"That's not my province.... I haven't read any papers or anything like that.... Ken Langone is a Nassau County resident who supported me for my position as County Executive and has offered to support me."

He also put a novel, but sharp, spin on Langone's money.

"He doesn't want anything from me as far as government goes," Suozzi said.

Just to kill Eliot, right? "Yeah," he chuckled, before continuing:

"He just wants me to win and do a good job. In a way, that's actually liberating. I'd rather have that kind of support than support from lobbyists who want me to help their clients."

What about Dick Grasso's $139.5 million payday?

"It seems like a tremendous amount of money, but that's a private sector company.... The interesting thing about it is the courts will have to decide what's appropriate here. It would be great if that case could be resolved as quickly as possible.... If Eliot wins the case, the money will go back to the millionaires who own the New York Stock Exchange anyway."

Would he like to debate Spitzer?

"Debates are great for voters. The more the better."

(Earlier today, I'd asked Eliot about debating Suozzi. "I've always believed debates are part of a healthy Democratic process and I look forward to them," Spitzer said, without committing more specifically.)

I also asked Suozzi about some of the problems in his own administration, including one Deputy County Executive indicted and another who left under a cloud in a timesheet scandal.  read more »

"Every large organization has problems and you've got to judge people based on how they address those problems," he said. "We now have a Deputy County Executive for Compliance. It was a very difficult, but a very important, learning experience."

The Suozzi sightings are starting to proliferate. He had breakfast at the Regency yesterday morning with the head of the New York City Partnership, Kathy Wylde. They were discussing "regional issues," according to Suozzi aide Kim Devlin, though one imagines that Wylde's constituents in the business community wouldn't mind seeing Eliot taken down.

And who should Suozzi he run into at the Regency but Ken Langone? A pure coincidence, Devlin said, adding that the men just spoke briefly.  read more »

Then, yesterday evening, Suozzi swung by the Harlem Family Christmas Party, a staff-heavy affair that's a long way from Nassau County. But he's not unreasonable to think there might be an opening against Eliot there.

UPDATE: Partnership spokesman Brian Mahanna emails: "The Partnership meets regularly with elected officials from across the state, including Attorney General Spitzer, and meeting with the Naussau County executive and co-chair of New York Metropolitan Transportation Council to share views on regional cooperation on transit, Medicaid and other issues of mutual concern was in no way a political statement."

Knowing that these things typically get locked up early, the candidates for the Republican nomination for Governor aren't holding their fire for next year. And it's not just the nominal frontrunner, Bill Weld, on the receiving end; as John Faso seems to be poking his head out of the muck of the second tier, there's an effort underway to drag him back down.

"The anti-Faso forces have been circulating opposition research that has gotten some legs because Medicaid is one of the hottest issues Upstate(mainly because of its impact on property taxes)," writes a correspondent.  read more »

The oppo piece -- anonymously circulated, but of benefit at least to Randy Daniels -- goes after Faso's lobbying practice along these lines: "It is also a fact that John Faso, the Albany lobbyist, represents a group disciplined by USDOJ for Medicaid Fraud!"

(The company in question is Bayer Healthcare, which settled a fraud case in 2001 and is a client of Faso's firm; the research piece neglects to mention that Faso wasn't at the firm in 2001.)

   read more »

The Sun predicts that the City Council will override Bloomberg’s veto today of its bill to require big box stores to provide health coverage. The editorial board offers its own solution for minimum wage workers: Medicaid. And if that doesn’t work, “Uninsured patients can receive care by showing up at any hospital emergency room.” Prisons provide health care too, we hear.

Will Sir Norman have his own twin towers? Steve Cuozzo reports that Foster has landed the commission for the former YWCA building at 53rd and Lexington to complement his Hearst design on the West Side. Developer Aby Rosen is planning to transfer the development rights from the Seagram Building and could build a total of 50 stories or more.  read more »

Whatever dreams Brooklyn Beep Marty Markowitz had of hosting the world are dashed as the Daily News reports that the United Nations will stay in Midtown, probably in two to four locations, during its HQ renovation.

-Matthew Schuerman