Two-thirds of New York hospitals and health systems are losing money. To Kenneth Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, one clear reason is that while drug, supply, and labor costs have climbed, the state government’s hospital spending has not kept pace.

In Raske’s view, Albany should — and can afford to — spend billions more.

“You’re sitting on a mountain of cash,” Raske told members of the state legislature during a January budget hearing.

Raske didn’t mention that his organization is sitting on its own. Over the past decade, the for-profit medical and drug supply business that has run up hospitals’ bills has also brought immense earnings to Greater New York — supercharging what is arguably Albany’s most influential lobbying group.

One of Albany’s most influential lobbying groups argues that New York can afford to ramp up health care spending — on the advice of an expert who would know.

Kenneth Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, said in a January interview that he was receiving counsel concerning the state budget from Robert Mujica, who served as New York’s top budget official under governors Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul.

A group of dissident retired public school teachers is seeking to take over part of the New York City teachers union in an upcoming election — and they hope to galvanize opposition over a proposed change to retirees’ health care and turn it into votes this June.

Retirees fear that the proposed change — a shift from public Medicare to private Medicare Advantage plans — could leave them with higher costs and fewer benefits. It’s been a major source of controversy since New York Focus broke the news of the proposal nearly three years ago. Though the plan has been on ice since last year, when a court sided with retirees who sued to block it, it still looms large as the city pursues an appeal.

With fear and anger running high, a group of retired teachers known as Retiree Advocate hopes those feelings will propel its insurgent slate into leadership positions at the retiree chapter of the United Federation of Teachers. The teacher union is one of the foremost backers of the Medicare Advantage switch.

Last year, New York Focus filed over 70 Freedom of Information Law requests for the reports scoc compiles when it inspects county jails, plus some related documents. We received thousands of pages of records. The documents, covering most of New York’s 62 counties, offer a first of its kind look into jail operations: procedures, problems, and state attempts — or failures — to address them.

We’re publishing all of those documents here. Our hope is that local journalists, advocates, researchers, watchdogs, and everyday citizens will use them to hold their county and state officials accountable. New York Focus has already used the documents to expose a half-baked plan to close a jail, reveal how sheriffs are sidestepping solitary confinement law, and illustrate the extent to which officials sweep incarcerated people’s official complaints under the rug.