The Irony Board 4/30/14

I'm not going to spend a lot of time today discussing whether we should have a federal minimum wage, or whether it should be $10.10 per hour, or whether if we raise it we'll ruin the economy or help the economy.

I've admitted being conflicted about the minimum wage issue, in part because when the minimum wage goes up, all other wages don't go up, and I have a hard time understanding how a job that a 'qualified' person has today that pays twice the minimum wage wouldn't be worth twice the minimum wage tomorrow if politicians vote to raise it. On the other hand, I believe that in order for our economy to improve, people need to have money to spend, and to save, and you can't do either of those if you're slaving away for $15,000 per year. So, yes, I'm conflicted on this one, and would appreciate assistance if you can offer some.

But where I'm not conflicted is on the ridiculous nonsense that played out in Washington today when, failing to muster the magic 60 votes to break a filibuster, the Senate was unable to even discuss the minimum wage hike the Dems have made a priority this year.

Since this is a key election-year battle the Dems want to fight (whether that's a good idea or a bad one remains to be seen), they'll be bringing the bill back again, and if it fails again they'll try to get it back again before the mid-term elections.

The filibuster was not unexpected -- that's the way business doesn't get done in DC, as we know.  But the irony of Republicans complaining about a vote designed to go nowhere was not lost on me. Here's Senator John Cornyn of Texas, one of the Republican leaders, commenting on the vote:

Let's talk about the 800-pound gorilla here in the Senate chamber.  This is all about politics. This is all about trying to make this side of the aisle look bad and hardhearted.

Remember, these are the Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell who once made it his top priority to keep Barack Obama from becoming a two-term president. The same Republicans who have filibustered too many federal appointees since the beginning of Obama's first term to count.

These are the same Republicans, and this is the same Mitch McConnell, who fought so hard to win the McCutcheon case, that further relaxes limits on money er, I mean speech, in politics.

And this is the same Republican Party -- different chamber, different leaders, but it's the same party -- that took us to the fiscal cliff, and that voted dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of times to repeal the Affordable Care Act -- the epitome of a vote that's going nowhere.

Yes, these are the Republicans who today refused to even discuss raising the federal minimum wage, which hasn't been increased since 2009, and the tipped wage, which hasn't been increased since 1991, and who complained that the Dems were playing politics.

Nah -- I'm not conflicted on that part at all.

Tuesday's Number: $1,111,086

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Each week, I track health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were 51 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $1,073,210.

·         There was one satisfied judgment, for $18,695.

·         And, there were two health care related bankruptcies, totaling $18,911.

New this year, I’m tracking filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had twelve, totaling $98,824

·         St Joe’s had none

·         SUNY Upstate had 38, totaling $962,509

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had none. 

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

The Update Desk: 30-year Bookstore PILOT

Back in July 2012 I did a post, To Pilot or Not to Pilot: the $64,000 Question, about a local developer asking the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency (SIDA) for a 30-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal for a property that would house the SU Bookstore, other facilities for the university, and commercial retail space not affiliated with SU. Under the proposed pilot, the developer would pay the city $64,000 annually, or $1.9 million over the life of the deal.

I'm not a fan or this type of deal, as I've noted before.  I think the better way is for people to build things, hire people, sell things, and so on -- and once they start doing that regularly and successfully, we can give them a break.

In this case though, SIDA approved the deal, making it only the second time they've approved a 30-year deal - the first being the Carousel Mall/Destiny project.  I had half forgotten about this one, until I saw the paper the other day doing some catch-up reading. Seems the developer has not yet gotten this project off the ground.

In an article (written by Rick Moriarty) posted on Syracuse.com, we learn that Cameron Development is, for the second time, on the verge of losing the PILOT because of a lack of activity on the project.  Here's the scoop, according to the article:

The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency's directors asked their lawyer last month to look into the status of the $20 million project after noticing no construction occurring at the project site at the northeast corner of University Avenue and East Adams Street.  The same agency declared the developer, Cameron Group LLC, in default of its tax deal in November because construction had not started by the August 21 deadline included in the deal.   

The August deadline stemmed from the PILOT requirement that construction begin within a year of the deal being signed. The article continues

Cameron Group 'cured' the default in December when it staked out the site, removed trees and pavers, and paid National Grid to remove power lines. The developer also parked a backhoe at the side, but it has sat idle since December. 

The developer responded to the industrial development agency with a letter earlier this month saying bad weather and structural changes requested by the university delayed  construction during the winter. With ground now thawing, work will start on the building's foundation shortly, the company said. 

The company is committed to getting the building completed by May 2014, they said in their response to SIDA's attorney, so that the facility can open as scheduled in June 2015, and that

In light of our investment and in light of our compliance with the construction schedule set forth in the Agency Lease and the PILOT Agreement, we believe there should be no issue with respect to the SIDA approvals for this project.  We will continue to develop this project in accordance with all of the approvals that SIDA, the City Administration, the Common Council, the University and we worked so hard and so long to bring about.

I understand that SIDA board members may be frustrated with the length of time that this project has taken, but we will complete the project as promised.

Want to know what else the developer said, as quoted in the article?

No one wants to get it going more then me, but this isn't costing anyone anything.

I have to respectfully disagree with that last comment.  Listen, I'm sure the project will be completed, and likely on time.  As noted, Cameron Group has spent $2.5M of their own money on this project since 2006, so they're invested in its success.  But to say that this isn't costing anyone anything isn't true.

The 'cost' is in public faith in the economic development process.  Remember, this is only the second time SIDA has done a 30-year deal, and the first one did not turn out exactly as planned.  Mall developer Bob Congel declared his project done, he didn't build everything he said he would (including a hotel), and now he's back with hand outstretched looking for -- wait for it -- a deal to build a hotel.

That type of behavior, and the seemingly cavalier attitude of this developer, are among the reasons why people who don't know a lot about economic development (and, frankly, people who DO know a lot about economic development) don't like this type of deal.

We see developers asking for help to build things we don't know or don't agree we need, projects that are so critical that they simply cannot be built if an IDA or other governmental agency doesn't cough up cash or tax breaks. We get commitments and promises and disingenuous "golly, why don't you trust me to build what I said I was going to build?" attitude from developers. We're told that if they don't get the deals they ask for, they won't build anything and then the City won't get any money at all, so we're basically supposed to be thanking our lucky stars that the developers are willing to undertake these projects.

We lose faith in the system when we see the projects not get off the ground, when we see delays, when we see construction equipment parked on the building site but nothing happening. It leaves a bad taste in our mouth, because we've been down this road before.

That, Mr. Developer, is the cost that we are incurring now, and will continue to incur, until your backhoe starts up.

Big Water Vacations

After our trip to Virginia's Hampton Roads area, the long ride home and unpacking, spending time with our six four-legged friends who missed us terribly, and downloading the last bunch of pictures, I had some time to reflect on why I so enjoy 'big water' vacations.

Before anyone gets angry at me,  I love mountain lakes and rivers and waterfalls; we've spent countless weekends and week-long vacations taking in all that those kinds of places have to offer. 'Little water' has a certain sensibility about it, a finite sensibility if you will, that can't compare the the vastness of pounding surf crashing on the seawall a few yards outside your door. 

Little water changes things slowly, and the changes are noticeable over time. When we were kids, our family used to rent a cottage on Tuscarora Lake, in Madison County.  I remember there was a tree that leaned out over the water at an angle, and there were little pools that would collect in the exposed roots.

Each August when we got there, my oldest brother and I would run over to check out the pools to see if they had gotten any bigger; they were great places to 'store' the turtles we caught, even if only for a short time. By our last year going to the cottage, it had gotten almost dangerously eroded under the tree, to the point where Dad was a little nervous about me getting too close if no one was with me. While we were at our cottage for a couple of weeks, nothing changed in any noticeable way; some 40-odd years later, though, that cottage might not even still be there. 

Now, big water, that's a different story -- the changes Mother Nature brings happen right in front of your eyes. A walk on the beach in one direction shows one thing; the walk back shows something completely different. The wind is different, the sand is different, the sky is different, the sound is different. 

We spent exactly zero minutes engaged in the age-old vacation activity of laying on the beach, but we spent hours on various beaches, bird-watching, shell-collecting, dune-gazing, picture-taking, contemplating. We were in state parks, wildlife refuges, and nature preserves that had seemingly endless (and practically empty) beaches, walking for miles in breezes ranging from sort-of-warm to pretty-darn-cold.

We were up for the sunrise over the Chesapeake Bay every morning, watching for the very second that the sun fully left the water and officially started the day. We managed to be in the right place at the right time to catch a sunset on a very quiet town beach on the Eastern Shore, after a fantastic dinner at an unassuming seafood restaurant. 

We saw  kayaks and canoes, sailboats and crab boats, 'guys hanging out fishing' and big commercial fishing boats, giant shipping boats and US Navy hovercraft.  We didn't see or hear a single jet-ski, and I couldn't have been happier about that. And even better, every beach we were on was 'tampon-free', another thing that made me very happy. (I simply can't get my head around people leaving feminine hygiene products on the beach, sorry).

This summer, we'll make good use of our Empire Passport and visit as many NYS parks as we can fit in. This fall, we'll head to the Adirondacks, and spend time seeking out those little lakes, rivers, streams and waterfalls that we enjoy so much. In the meantime, I'll bask in the new memories we created this past week on big water, hoping they'll stretch as far in my mind as the reaches of the sun over the big water.

(Larger versions of these and other photos from the trip can be found here, in my Chesapeake Bay Vacation album.) 

Be Right Back

We are getting ready to head out on our last real day of vacation; tomorrow's the drive home, and then I'll dive back into the blog.

In the meantime, please feel free to check out older posts from the 'Talking About' sidebar.

Thanks for your patience -- and let me know if there was anything exciting happening out there in the real world while I've been hiding out!

Tuesday's Number: $965,104

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Each week, I track health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were 40 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $957,055.

·         There were no satisfied judgments.

·         And, there was one health care related bankruptcy, totaling $8,049.

New this year, I’m tracking filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had eight, totaling $93,190

·         St Joe’s had two, totaling $18,265

·         SUNY Upstate had 26, totaling $811,031

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had none. 

 The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

Sidebar: We're Out of Touch

There has been some additional polling since I did my We're Out of Touch post last week, and the numbers aren't looking any better.

The same generally conservative-based polling company I subscribe to has come out with more numbers illustrating our discontent:

• 49% think we could get better representation if we randomly pulled numbers from the phone book
• 66% think the rules are rigged to favor incumbents, and that's why they keep getting re-elected
• 72% think we'd be in a better place if the majority of the folks in Congress didn't get re-elected

Maybe yesterday, when around 70% of Americans were sitting down to a family dinner for Easter, folks talked about things like this and maybe it means that more people will vote the next time they have the chance. 

Tuesday's Number: $649,657

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Each week, I track health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were 35 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $518,036.

·         There were two satisfied judgments, totaling $33,191.

·         And, there were five health care related bankruptcies, totaling $98,430.

New this year, I’m tracking filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had 17, totaling $218,682

·         St Joe’s had nine, totaling $134,448

·         SUNY Upstate had 11, totaling $252,905

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had three, totaling $28,296. 

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

Poll Watch: We're Out of Touch

There's been a lot of polling over the past year checking our overall sense of how much or little we approve of Congress or President Obama, and we know that for the most part those results have been abysmal. Congressional approval has been in the single digits, and POTUS has also been tagged with horrible numbers.

There are lots of other poll questions out there, though, that don't seem to get as much play.  Here are some recent results from one generally conservative polling organization I subscribe to that I thought were interesting:

• 66% of likely voters favor getting sexual assault cases out of the hands of commanders and into the hands of the military judge advocates. Recently, legislation related to this was voted down.
• Only 47% think that reducing taxes helps the economy (a six-year low for this polling agency), but  Republicans continue to champion that message and push legislation in that direction.
• By a 2-to-1 margin, voters disagree with the SCOTUS decision on McCutcheon, the case that was championed by the Republican National Committee and Mitch McConnell, minority leader of the Senate. Further, more than half of us think that Congress should regulate campaign contributions, and that our free speech rights are not violated if that regulation occurs. The most important thing, we think? Full disclosure of all contributions. 
• And then there's this: 59% of Republicans think Republicans in Congress are out of touch with the party's base, and 23% think the Rs in Congress are more conservative than the people.  
• On the other side, 27% of Dems think their folks in Congress are more liberal than the base, and 30% think the Dems are out of touch. 

Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Here in New York, one of the hot topics is whether we'll allow medical marijuana. Our Sonova Governor Andrew Cuomo included a proposal for testing this at a limited number of hospitals across the state in his State of the State address.  Polls have reflected different levels of approval, with a recent one showing New Yorkers approve by about 10-to-1, while others have reflected weaker support.  Will we get there this legislative term? Probably not.

And then there's the NY SAFE Act, the quite a bit reasonable/somewhat stupid gun legislation Cuomo was able to rush through last year. As we come up on one of the major deadlines -- April 15th for registering so-called assault weapons -- we have a significant majority of counties across the state officially disapproving of the law, and some counties and police jurisdictions indicating they won't enforce the law.

That contrasts with recent polling indicating that 63% of voters support the SAFE Act. a slight uptick from last year.  Geographically (and not surprisingly) support is strongest in NYC and downstate; upstate there is a slight majority opposed to the law. I did find it surprising that  a majority of whites and men support it, although in smaller numbers than do women and minorities.

So - at the federal level, the state level, and the local level, we can easily find a disconnect between what voters say they want and what their elected officials seem to be doing. So I've gotta ask, are you happy with your elected officials?  Do they have any sense at all what you're interested in, and what you think is important? Have you told them lately what's on your mind?

Maybe, they do what they want because they're smarter than we are, and realize better than we do what we want or need.  Maybe, they do what they do because of the 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' process in which they work. Or maybe they do what they do because so few of us actually care enough to vote.

I wonder, are we more out of touch than they are?  

My Salary is My Business

Happy Equal Pay Day.

What's that mean, you're wondering? Well, according to the numbers, if My Sweet Baboo were the average male and earned a full dollar in 2013, and I were the average female I would have only earned 77 cents last year, and it would have taken me until today to earn the last 23 cents needed for me to have a 2013 dollar too.

Rather than arguing whether or not a there is a pay gap, and whether or not it's 77 cents to a dollar, and whether or not it's self-inflicted because women take low paying jobs, or have babies, or aren't driven or don't have the right personalities, or are held back by a glass ceiling, let's talk about today, about President Obama signing an executive order and issuing a presidential memorandum to help address that wage gap.  They both have limited impact, but there's at least some chance -- however slim -- that they could become law for all employers.

The first one, the executive order, will prohibit contractors working for the federal government from taking action against employees who talk salary with coworkers. According to the White House,

It is important that women and all employees feel they can seek information about pay from colleagues without the threat of being fired.

The memorandum directs the Department of Labor to get data from those federal contractors, compensation data broken down by gender and race. The thinking here, again according to the administration?

It aims to allow for more efficient enforcement and even voluntary compliance.  Employers often don't realize there is a pay gap until they're confronted with it. 

I can't speak to the second point above, but I can to the first. I've worked at companies where discussing salary was strongly discouraged, even if there wasn't an official policy on the subject. I have friends who have worked (or still do) at companies where asking someone else their salary was grounds for dismissal, as was answering the question if asked.  Admittedly this was back in the day but I'm reasonably comfortable there are still companies with policies like that. And, frankly I am reasonably comfortable with a policy like that.

Maybe my sensitivity to discussing my salary comes from my childhood, seeing my Dad's name and salary published in the newspaper back in the 70s when he was a teacher with a master's degree who made a ton of money -- barely more than one of his former students made working as a union janitor at a local factory, and almost as much as a friend's dad who was a truck driver.  Yeah, that could be why.

Or maybe it's because I don't feel a sense of sisterhood (or any other kind of hood) to such an extent that I'd share my personal information with someone out of solidarity.  Yeah, that could be why, too.

Regardless of what the company policy is, or what the executive order says, my policy has always been and will always be don't ask, don't tell.  Because there are only a handful of people who need to know what I make:  me, my boss, the taxman, and My Sweet Baboo.

And I'm not sure how much he cares, as long as I can afford to buy the groceries and the cat food.

Tuesday's Number: $700,684

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Each week, I track health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were 35 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $665,729.

·         There were no satisfied judgments.

·         And, there were three health care related bankruptcies, totaling $34.965.

New this year, I’m tracking filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had 21, totaling $258,073

·         St Joe’s had four, totaling $38,150

·         SUNY Upstate had 14, totaling $404,471

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had none  

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

What IS Religious Freedom?

I've noted before on this blog that I'm not a 'religious' person, meaning that I don't belong to a church or attend services regularly or anything like that. I do try to live life according to the golden rule, to be ethical and fair and non-judgmental (even while admitting that the last part can be really hard).

And I think even if I were a religious person, I would struggle with what passes for 'religious freedom' these days.

The Mississippi State Flag

It now seems we can pretty much say anything is a deeply held religious belief, and using that we can discriminate and get away with it, at least in Mississippi. But not in Arizona?  I get so confused.

Arizona, as you may know, had a very public battle regarding a bill that would allow a company that had 'deeply held religious beliefs' to not participate in certain business transactions if they did not like who the customer slept with. That's obviously minimizing it, but that's the gist of the move behind their law, which came about as a result of actions in other states -- not Arizona -- regarding a business owner not wanting to engage in commerce with gays.

The Arizona bill was vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer, in part because she believes there are more important things for the government to be focused on -- and I wholeheartedly agree on that -- and because the law could do more harm than good to her state. I agree with her on that account as well.  (You can read more here.)

Mississippi's bill moved through the legislature without a whole lot of notice -- certainly nothing like what played out in Arizona.  I'll be honest, until I saw that it passed, I wasn't aware it was even being considered.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, who signed that state's religious freedom bill (SB2681) last week,  noted he was

proud to sign the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act today which will protect the individual religious freedom of Mississippians of all faiths from government interference.  Mississippi has now joined 18 other states to defend religious freedoms on a state level. 

Under the bill, 'exercise of religion' is defined as "the exercise of religion under the First Amendment", which as we know simply states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.  Also buried in the bill is a statement indicating that

Nothing in this act shall create any rights by an employee against an employer if the employer is not the government.

So an employer does not need to allow an employee to face east and pray, or to chant in the break room, or to wear a tallit or yarmulke, or to use Rosary beads, for example?  And that company can close their doors to any customer they like, as long as that closure is based on a First Amendment application of religious freedom?  Which seems to mean that people don't have religious freedom, but employers do?  Is this another one of those 'corporations are people too' things?   As I said, I get so confused.

What's not confusing is the statement below, which is prominently displayed on the main page of Governor Bryant's official web page, under the headline Rising Together

I call on every Mississippian, no matter what our race or region or party, to rise above our petty differences and build together the Mississippi our citizens deserve. Let us go forward from this time and place, unafraid to make the bold changes that will help us rise together. 

I guess now Mississippi is the Mississippi the citizens deserve.

That rising together thing, well, I think that'll have to wait until people are done using their religion as an excuse.

Can I Afford Not to?

I'm thinking I'm going to have to get a second, maybe a third job, which would mean I would have very little time for this blog, for my garden, for My Sweet Baboo, or for anything else. I'll need the extra money, you see, if I expect to get any attention from a politician, now that the Supremes have given us their decision in the McCutcheon case.

The Roberts Court, which brought us Citizens United, has now added that aggregate limits on contributions for elections violate a person's most fundamental First Amendment activities "without justification." I obviously disagree with this, as I disagreed with the 'corporations are people too' ruling that came with Citizens United.

My belief?  People - the living, breathing kind - have 'speech' rights, but non-living, non-breathing entities do not.

My belief?  Being able to spend unlimited amounts of money to 'speak to' politicians, is not what 'free speech' means.

My belief?  I'd have a better chance of seeing Elvis perform live at the Weedsport Hotel than I have of getting a politician to take seriously what I say  (on the phone, via email, via social media, in a survey, or in a face to face conversation)  unless what I say comes with tens of thousands of dollars in strings attached.

My belief?  Money is something that is used to pay for things. And I'm not alone:

• money: something (such as coins or bills) used as a way to pay for goods and services and to pay people for their work
• money: any article or substance used as a medium of exchange, measure of wealth, or means of payment...
• money: any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts...

What does money buy, in politics? Money buys attention from politicians, or buys votes for politicians. Money 'speaks' to politicians in a way that mere words cannot. (Most politicians that is. Not Republicans or Andrew Cuomo or Bill Fitzpatrick, but 'regular' politicians.)

And what is the 'exchange' that politicians give in return for all this money, even the ones who are playing by the rules? What goods and services do these massive donations purchase?

• maybe it s a tasty little sentence or two that might go unnoticed in the middle of a huge bill, something that would provide a nice benefit to a donor
• maybe it's a helpful vote on legislation, such as stopping regulations that might make it harder for the donor to do business.
• maybe it's a package of tax breaks for companies within a specific business sector, or maybe it's tax breaks for the rich (who are the only ones who can make this level of contribution)
• maybe it's a job for a relative, or friend, or something fairly benign like that
• maybe it's ten, twenty, thirty, forty or more votes to repeal a law that donors don't like

Is there really no difference between money and words?  Is that really how we want to run our political system? 

Because if it is, I've got to get another job or two.

Tuesday's Number Quarterly Totals

It's hard to imagine we have thirteen Tuesday’s Numbers under our belt already in 2014. 

There’s quite a bit of damage from the health care related filings so far. These include only the ones that are clearly debts for a hospital, nursing home physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on.  What’s not included are any filings by insurance companies themselves, as diversification makes it difficult to determine whether we’re really looking at a patient debt.

This quarter, there were 253 individual listings totaling $5,499,218.

·         Judgments totaled $4,907,492

·         Satisfied judgments totaled $167,921

·         Bankruptcies totaled $424,204    

And here are the quarterly totals for each of the four Syracuse hospitals:

·         Crouse had 70, totaling $981,809

·         St Joe’s had eleven, totaling $325,304

·         SUNY Upstate had 148, totaling $3,955,895

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had four, for a total of $34,062 

Will we see a change now that we’ve reached the enrollment deadline for coverage under the Affordable Care Act?  Will some folks now have insurance that haven’t in the past, or better coverage now than they had before?  Time will tell. 

Tuesday's Number: $417,698

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Each week, I track health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were 14 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $320,523.

·         There were three satisfied judgments, totaling $25,166.

·         And, there were three health care related bankruptcies, totaling $71,998.

New this year, I’m tracking filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had nine, totaling $119,345

·         St Joe’s had one, totaling $30,120

·         SUNY Upstate had nine, totaling $261,487

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had none  

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.