The River Reporter Online - Letters to the Editor

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The River Reporter welcomes letters on all subjects from its readers. They must be signed and include the correspondent's phone number. The correspondent's name and town will appear at the bottom of each letter; titles and affiliations will not, unless the correspondent is writing on behalf of a group.

Letters are printed as they are received, or at the discretion of the editor, and without correction to grammar or spelling. It is requested they be limited to 500 words; correspondents may be asked to cut longer letters. Deadline is 1:00 p.m. on Monday.

Two years ago, I had the privilege of running for Congress against Ben Gilman on the Democratic ticket. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m now rooting for him. I think it’s outrageous what the NY State Legislature did to him—eliminating his district during the reapportionment process for the simple reason that the Congressman is too old. The State Legislature also eliminated the district of an upstate Democratic congresswoman —the oldest NY Democratic member of Congress.

I’m hopeful that the Congressman will be successful in his legal actions. Age discrimination has no place in government. I’m also hopeful that the Republican members of the State Legislature who stabbed the Congressman in the back will recognize that what comes around goes around.

Reapportionment should not be based on personalities or on the age of an individual elected official, but on census data and demographics. The federal master plan made much more sense.

We know that procuring the right health insurance for a family or company can be a daunting task, one that takes time, planning and information. For this reason, we want to update you on the status of recent discussions between Wayne Memorial Hospital and Geisinger Health Plan and the prospects of the hospital continuing as a participating provider with the Health Plan.

As you may know, Wayne Memorial Hospital recently terminated our existing agreement with GHP in order to open negotiations to improve the claims process between the hospital and GHP. The hospital also wanted to modify language so that the Health Plan could not administratively deny claims for medically necessary services provided in good faith. The changes that we requested were consistent with terms of agreements that the hospital has with other managed care insurance carriers. During the current negotiations, the hospital at no time requested increased payments from the health plan. Because of our concern for GHP members in our community, Wayne Memorial has decided to withdraw its termination notice and will continue as a participating provider in the GHP network for an additional year, until June 30, 2003. The hospital’s continued participation beyond June 30, 2003, will depend on GHP’s adherence to its contractual obligations, as well as its future payment policies.

We are withdrawing our Notice of Termination for several reasons. First, we have decided to pursue the issue of timely claims payment through the Pennsylvania Insurance Department and other regulatory agencies, as appropriate. The original complaint was filed in December 2001; the Insurance Department has initiated an investigation that the hospital has been notified is continuing.

We also want to provide Geisinger members in our community ample time to investigate and evaluate other insurance options. Geisinger has proposed a new outpatient fee schedule that, according to our analysis, could reduce payments to the hospital by as much as 70 percent. If instituted, the hospital could lose an estimated $2 million in annual revenue. For the hospital to accept such a proposal would jeopardize the financial viability of this community health care resource that you and your neighbors depend upon. If, over the next year, it becomes apparent to the hospital that GHP intends to implement such a proposal, then the hospital would have no choice but to discontinue participation in the GHP network as of June 30, 2003.

Thank you for the trust and confidence that you place in our health care delivery team. It is both an honor and a privilege for each member of our team to be of service to you.

When many of us warned last year that run off would be a major problem at the proposed Lake Huntington high school building site, nobody from the Sullivan West administration or the construction company would listen.

The recent storm generated flood waters which have washed tons of rank smelling reddish brown silt, mud and sand from the construction site into Lake Huntington itself have proved the accuracy of our predictions.

Lake Huntington residents, who value their fishing, boating and swimming, are quite upset. They realize the Sullivan West administration is creating an ecological disaster at the lake with the prospect of extensive erosion and run off problems during and after major storms, which will recur for many years to come.

We are all interested in knowing how much damage the recent storms did to the newly poured concrete, footings and foundation of the new high school. How much money will it cost us to repair all the damage caused by the recent storms? I am sure it will be much more than the administration will currently admit.

The fact that sump pumps will be required to keep the basement dry tells me that the water level on the site is exceedingly high even in good weather and that the completed building will be a damp, moldy and expensive money pit in constant need of repair.

Mr. Johndrow, it is time for you to admit you don’t know what you are doing, close down the project and move it to a better location.