There is no doubt New York’s new governor Andrew Cuomo has his work cut out for him in his push for ethical and accountable behavior on the part of state employees and state agencies. Evidence of the widespread dysfunction is certainly on display in the response I received in yesterday’s mail to a FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request I filed on December 12, 2010 seeking documents from the state’s department of health.
The December 12 FOIL request asked for the following (quoted directly from the request itself):
– Any and all policies and procedures and any and all emails or other forms of written or recorded communications that are related to Medicaid Fair Hearings.
– Any and all policies and procedures and any and all emails or other forms of written or recorded communications that are related to the state’s traumatic brain injury waiver, the RRDCs ( Regional Resource Development Centers) and RRDSs (Regional resource Development Specialists) and assistant RRDSs and their role in Medicaid Fair Hearings
– Any and all policies and procedures and any and all emails or other forms of written or recorded communication that are related to directives from DOH (and or contract employees of DOH) that relate to TBI Waiver providers and their role in Medicaid Fair Hearings
– Any and all information that relates to DOH Policies and Procedures that apply to Medicaid Fair Hearings
And what arrived in yesterday’s mail as a response, a slim binder used to training fair hearing officers. A disturbing and seemingly disingenuous response to say the least. Upon reflection here is what is far more disturbing; I wasn’t surprised.
I’ve filed another, far more specific, FOIL request.
Stay tuned.