CAMPAIGN 2002 State rep's plan to benefit hospitals

By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A plan developed by state Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin to change how hospitals receive Medicare reimbursements would save Mahoning Valley hospitals about $7 million annually, according to officials at Forum Health and Humility of Mary Health Partners.
The plan is supported by a number of Ohio congressmen, including U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, who touted the idea Friday. Womer Benjamin is the Republican candidate for the 17th District U.S. House seat.
Ney and other congressmen sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, asking for consideration of Womer Benjamin's proposal.
Ney, a St. Clairsville Republican, said he is not sure when the U.S. House would address Womer Benjamin's proposal.
How it works
Hospitals receive Medicare reimbursement based primarily on the wage index of the metropolitan area in which they reside. In the case of Forum Health and Humility of Mary, that area is Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
Valley hospitals get $250 reimbursements from Medicare, said Henry Seybold, Forum Health's senior vice president and chief financial officer.
The goal is to de-emphasize wage index to even the playing field, Womer Benjamin said.
No one was specific Friday as to how much the reimbursement would be raised under the proposal, but Seybold and John Finizio, Humility of Mary's senior vice president of business development, estimate that Valley hospitals would see an increase of $7 million under Womer Benjamin's plan.
"This Valley's going to get a lot more things if they elect Ann Womer Benjamin than if they go the other way," said Ney, chairman of the House Rules Committee.
Other contenders
The other candidates in the 17th District race are Democrat Timothy J. Ryan of Niles and former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant of Poland, an independent serving an eight-year federal prison sentence for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion.
Ryan said the endorsement of Womer Benjamin by Ney or other Republican members of Congress has no impact on the race.
"People are more concerned with Harding [High School] in the playoffs [today] or the Browns-Steelers game [Sunday]," Ryan said.
However, Ryan accepted the support Friday from Mahoning County Sheriff Randall Wellington and the 67-member Youngstown Police Ranking Officers Association -- the first public announcement of support from law enforcement for Ryan.
Past conviction
Wellington said Ryan's 1993 disorderly conduct conviction for having a fake ID when he was a 19-year-old college student is immaterial to this campaign.
"I'm not concerned about his past," Wellington said. "I'm concerned about the Tim Ryan I've known for the past few months."
Dennis Haines, the police officer group's legal representative, said an overwhelming majority of the membership supports Ryan.
Womer Benjamin said the Ryan endorsements don't mean anything because Wellington and Ryan are both Democrats and Haines is a Ryan campaign contributor.
"I've heard from law enforcement across the district that they are concerned about [Ryan's] background," she said.
Womer Benjamin has received the endorsement of the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association and the Portage County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 70, as well as the support of Portage County Sheriff Duane Kaley and Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander.
skolnick@vindy.com