Author: Babajanian Karo

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
March 26, 2004

WILL FRANCE REPRESENT EU IN MINSK GROUP?

According to the foreign minister of Azerbaijan V. Guliev, the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairmen have certain suggestions, which will be
discussed at the upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia
and Azerbaijan in Prague. `The co-chairmen first of all wish to
present the ideas to the foreign ministers of these two countries and
summing up the results of the meeting to visit the region once again,’
he said. In his turn the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Solomon Passy
mentioned during his regional visit to the Caucasus that what is the
duty of Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be expected from the OSCE. `We
were rather close to the settlement of the problem when Heidar Aliev
was the president, especially during the last two years. But Ilham
Aliev brought everything to the zero level. We cannot erase everything
and start from a blank page,’ said the minister of foreign affairs of
Armenia Vardan Oskanian. The Azerbaijani party suggested a new variant
of the negotiation process. The European Union could task the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairman France to act in the name of this organization.
Another variant is, according to Azerbaijani vice foreign minister
Azimov, the participation of the European Union together with the OSCE
Minsk Group. During his recent visit to the region the special
representative of the European Union on South Caucasus Heikki Talvitie
defended the opinion that the unsettled problem hinders regional
cooperation. Moreover, in his interview to the radio station `The
Voice of America’ famous political scientist Paul Goble mentioned that
the official messages of Baku saying the conflict with Armenia does
not allow Azerbaijan to make democratic reforms are not true. According
to him, Azerbaijan is not a legal state, there are no civil society
institutions in the republic, elections are not transparent and
fair. Stability in Azerbaijan is also negatively influenced by he
absence of stable state institutions, corruption, serious problems
with democracy, mentioned Goble adding that Azerbaijan only seems to
be a strong state. The announcement of the president of Armenia Robert
Kocharian that Karabakh cannot be annexed to Azerbaijan are not
barefooted. According to the Armenian newspaper `Azg’, the second
article of the project of the agreement achieved by Robert Kocharian
and deceased Heidar Aliev in Key West maintained the unification of
Karabakh to Armenia. The newspaper writes that Heidar Aliev had given
his consent to settle the problem within the framework of the Key West
agreement but later he did not display enough determination and
resolve for its implementation. The foreign minister of Azerbaijan
Guliev announced that he had reminded Voskanian about his promise to
present the documents referring the arrangements on the settlement of
the Karabakh conflict made between the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan in Key West in 2001. According to Guliev, the foreign
minister of Armenia promised to send them by fax soon after returning
to Armenia. `I asked him whether the documents are signed. He said he
did not have any signed documents. Then I said if there are no signed
documents, what agreement may be concerned,’ noticed Guliev. “We
are glad that the foreign minister of Azerbaijan Mr. Vilayat Guliev
agreed at last that a document was achieved during the negotiations in
Key West, even if it is not signed,’ said the speaker of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Hamlet Gasparian. Answering the question
of the reporter of the news agency De Facto about Ilham Aliev’s
variant of starting the negotiations anew NKR president Arkady
Ghukassian mentioned that it would be better if Ilham Aliev himself
explained what he means by starting everything anew. In this context
the special representative of the European Union Heikki Talvitie
mentioned that the question of involving South Caucasus in the program
`Larger Europe; New Neighbours’ will probably solved positively by
June of this year. Addressing the summit in Bratislava the foreign
minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanian mentioned that at the beginning of
the 1990’s the question of membership of the countries of the South
Caucasus to the Council of Europe was solved by the resolution about
affiliation of the three Caucasian countries to the Council of
Europe. In 1992 first Georgia then Armenia and Azerbaijan became
members of the Council of Europe. This circumstance was very important
to each of the three republics in regard with development of
democracy, maintenance of human rights and the rule of law. A month
ago in Brussels the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
charged the European Commission to extend the proposal of including
South Caucasus in the undertaking `Larger Europe; New Neighbours’.
`But it should be stated clearly that the Council of Europe provides
prospects but does not give promises. It is not only important to
maintain order each at their `home’ but also in the whole region.
Recently the president of Georgia Sahakashvili visited Yerevan and
Baku. In Armenia and Azerbaijan he spoke about unified Caucasus, free
trade area and deeper integration. But there are a number of serious
obstructions to the integration of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and
regional cooperation. The most important is the conflict in Karabakh.
This confrontation must be considered from the point of view of the
future and not the current situation. Therefore, the European
suggestion is the most promising one. On this way it is possible to
promote not only the democratic processes and process of maintenance
of human rights and the rule of law but also to consider the regional
and ethnic conflicts from the aspect of global processes. If we
succeed in this respect we will be able to provide progress for
complicated issues such as the conflict of Karabakh,’ said Vardan
Oskanian.

NAIRA HAYRUMIAN.

Armenian foreign minister regrets cancellation of Prague meeting

Mediamax news agency
26 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan today expressed his regret
in connection with official Baku’s refusal to participate in the
meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers with the
[OSCE] mediators in attendance, which was set for 29 March in Prague.

“We regret that Ilham Aliyev is missing another opportunity to resume
the negotiating process,” the Armenian foreign minister said,
answering our Mediamax correspondent’s questions.

Vardan Oskanyan also stated that “the Azerbaijani president has been
taking an unclear position on the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh
issue”.

Armenian president, EU envoy discuss cooperation

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
26 Mar 04

[Presenter over video] The special representative of the EU for the
South Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie, and President Robert Kocharyan
discussed in Yerevan today the prospects for involving the South
Caucasus countries in the programme “Expanded Europe: New Neighbours”.

Robert Kocharyan said that Armenia’s participation in this programme
will seriously stimulate the implementation of all reforms in the
country in line with European standards.

Ambassador Heikki Talvitie noted the importance of developing regional
cooperation in the South Caucasus and stepping up the region’s
economic relations with European countries.

The Armenian president expressed Armenia’s determination to develop
and deepen relations with the European Union.

Turlock Journal, CA
March 25 2004

Piro: Assyrians need louder voice in Iraq

By Kimberly Horg – Turlock Journal

Lazar Piro, president of the Assyrian National Council, has a
different perspective on the situation in Iraq than what is shown on
television news each night.

Piro, who frequently travels to the Middle East for business and
personal purposes, told a group of Turlock Rotarians Tuesday that
Arab people are upset with Americans because of the government’s
support of Israel, but people in Iraq are pleased with the U.S.
presence. Even so, Iraqis are concerned about getting their country
back in order, he said.

`Most people in the United States don’t exactly understand what is
going on over there so it is good to have someone visit the Rotary
Club who does,’ said Sharon Silva, CEO of the Turlock Chamber of
Commerce.

Piro was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1942 and came to the United
States in 1979 with his wife, Francia. He studied business
administration and began his career marketing and selling health
products. He speaks English, French, Arabic, and Assyrian. He started
Piro Trading International in Turlock during 1984 which specializes
in dental and health care (which he exports internationally). Piro is
the owner of the local franchise for Strings Italian Cafe and has
been a resident of Turlock for 25 years.

He told Rotary members how he thought the U.S. should begin a
democratic Iraq and gave an overview on the Middle East.

`Most of the people in Iraq agree that the people of Iraq must
establish their own government and control,’ Piro said.

`The region is divided into three different areas. The arbitrary
boundary lines have been drawn over many years and battles have
caused grief, anger and political problems,’ Piro said.

As president of the Assyrian National Council, a coalition of 21
religious, social and civic organizations in Stanislaus County, Piro
said he wants to promote the social, cultural and spiritual welfare
of the Assyrian people in Stanislaus County. Stanislaus is home to
over 20,000 Assyrians people who are direct descendants of the
indigenous people of Iraq so many of the city’s residents have
relatives in Iraq, particularly in Northern Iraq and Baghdad.

He recently wrote a letter to President George W. Bush about the law
of administration for Iraq regarding the Assyrian people to be
reconsidered as a nation – not a community – in Iraq. A major concern
of the council is that the law gives the regional government the
territory which includes the northern part of Iraq. This includes
Neneves which used to be the capitol of the Assyrian empire but this
land was given to the Kurds instead.

`We were the indigenous people of Iraq so we would like to get a
voice,’ he said.

The Assyrian and Armenian genocide that took place more a hundred
years ago, in which many people were murdered because of their
beliefs. The Assyrians and Armenians were among the first Christian
peoples. In present times they have the right to practice their
religion, but this was not always a freedom that they could enjoy.
Even though a great number of people were killed, it is not widely
known or spoken about.

In the Bible, Mesopotamia was where present-day Iraq is located ,so
religion has always been a big part of the culture. The Middle East
is the birth place for three major religions: Christianity, Islam and
Judaism. Religion is a strong part of the culture in Iraq, so people
have a clash of different values and different points of view, he
said.

Because there is a mix of religions in the area, democracy in Iraq
will take years.

`It is very difficult to put a democratic government in Iraq,’ Piro
said.

Daily Telegraph, UK
March 24 2004

Tom Young

Tom Young, who has died aged 60, was from 1993 to 1997 Britain’s
first ambassador in Azerbaijan, before ending his diplomatic career
as High Commissioner in Zambia.

Azerbaijan, between Russia and Iran on the west side of the Caspian,
declared itself independent in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet
Empire. In its early years the new republic was mired in political
instability and economic chaos, largely caused by the struggle of the
Armenian population to control the enclave of Nagornyi Karabakh.

The Foreign Office decided that it needed representation in Baku,
chiefly in order to support British interests in oil contracts. Young
took up his post in September 1993, shortly after Heydar Aliyev
became President.

Aliyev was a former KGB apparatchik who had risen to considerable
power in Moscow before being dismissed by Gorbachev in 1987 – a
setback from which he emerged as a sudden champion of Azerbaijani
nationalism. Yet Aliyev’s ruthless ways with opposition did not
immediately restore order.

Young and his wife Elisabeth therefore arrived in Baku to discover
that even the basic necessities of life – food, power and lodging –
were uncertain. And since there was no reliable banking system in
Azerbaijan, he had to finance the new embassy out of a bag containing
$30,000 in cash.

For nearly two years the Young family lived in one old Communist
Party hotel overlooking the Caspian Sea, while the British
ambassador’s office occupied three rooms in another. Every Tuesday,
the British community in Baku – all 10 of them – would meet to share
a crate of beer and Soviet “champagne”. This proved to be the
foundation of the British Business Group of Baku, whose membership
would later run into hundreds.

Young took the situation in his stride: his main relaxation was
walking around Baku, where he would encounter people whose way of
living was far beneath the normal ambassadorial ken.

He already spoke Turkish and, through his contacts on the street,
soon mastered Azeri. One man he encountered on these peregrinations
had lost both legs and been reduced to begging. Young and his family
became frequent visitors to his lodging, where they gained insights
into the Azerbaijan economy denied to the experts from the
International Monetary Fund. Typically, Young continued to support
this man long after leaving Baku.

At the other end of the scale, he managed to stay on good terms both
with President Aliyev and his opponents, as well as with the human
rights activists who sought to combat the excesses of the regime. At
a time when the rule of law was shaky, and free speech dangerous,
this was a considerable achievement, of paramount importance to the
British oil interests which were at stake.

Thomas Nesbitt Young was born at Godalming on July 24 1943, the
middle son of Frank Young, who would be Professor of Biochemistry at
Cambridge and the first Master of Darwin College, Cambridge. Frank
Young was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1949, and knighted
in 1973.

At the Leys School in Cambridge, young Tom also became a scientist,
and indeed was obliged to struggle with his father’s chemistry
textbook. After school his spirit of adventure took him to Uganda,
where he taught at Kigezi College in Kabale. Back in England, he read
Chemistry at Pembroke College, Oxford.

After joining the Foreign Office in 1966, he opted to learn Turkish,
studying the language with Roger Short, who was killed in Istanbul
last November.

In 1969 Young took up his first foreign posting, as Third Secretary
in Ankara. There he met Elisabeth Hick, who was also working in the
embassy, and whom he married in 1971. They proved a brilliant team,
both equally intrepid. Together they travelled throughout Turkey,
making many friends who stood them in good stead when – after four
years in Madrid – Young returned to Ankara in 1978 as Head of
Chancery.

His Turkish contacts served him particularly well in September 1980,
when he learnt of General Kenan Evren’s pro-Western, anti-Islamic
military takeover as it was happening, in the middle of the night.
Deciding to go to the British embassy before the dawn curfew was
imposed, he met the Turkish guard, who expressed surprise at his
early arrival. “There has been a military coup,” Young explained.
“Where?” demanded the guard. “In England?”

Young always sought posts in developing countries. In 1981, however,
the Foreign Office appointed him Deputy Director of Trade and
Development in New York, from where he went to Washington as First
Secretary. This was followed by a spell in London, between 1984 and
1986, as assistant head of the nuclear energy department at the FCO.

Young’s next appointment, from 1987 to 1990, was as Deputy High
Commissioner in Ghana, where once more he was able to satisfy his
adventurous instincts. When a new High Commissioner arrived in 1989,
he was able to profit from Young’s knowledge of the country, secure
in the knowledge that while he discovered Ghana, the Deputy High
Commissioner would be holding the fort in Accra.

>From 1990 to 1993 Young was director of trade promotion at the
British High Commission in Canberra, which gave him the grateful duty
of ranging extensively across Australia. But the fall of the Soviet
Empire caused him to volunteer for the discomforts of Baku. Here
again he did not miss the opportunity for travel, venturing with his
wife across the Caspian Sea and along the Silk Road to Samarkand.

As High Commissioner in Zambia between 1997 and 2002, Young found
another post well suited to his talents. His humanitarian instincts
responded both sympathetically and effectively to the problems of a
country ridden with Aids, and he was able to provide vital support
through the distribution of funds from the Department of
International Development and other organisations. His humour and
imagination shone through to all he met.

On retiring from the Foreign Office in 2002, Young was appointed
director of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe’s regional centre for Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he
worked tirelessly to build bridges, both figuratively and literally,
between divided communities.

Besides his passion for challenging travel, Young enjoyed
hill-walking and sailing. Indoors, he loved Renaissance music. He
died on February 11.

Tom and Elisabeth Young had a son and a daughter.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
03/24/2004
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1) Armenian President Meets with Coalition Leaders
2) Turkish Official Looks to Improved Relations with Armenia
3) ANC San Gabriel Valley, Assemblymember Caldron Meet on ANC Activities
4) ARF Reviews Faction’s Activities in Parliament
5) Moscow’s Week of Parajanov

1) Armenian President Meets with Coalition Leaders

YEREVAN (Presidential Press Office)–President Robert Kocharian met with heads
of the governing coalition on Tuesday, who conveyed their impressions and
observation of recent field visits to regions of Armenia. The representatives
agreed and stressed the necessity of continued visits to various areas.
On other topics, they suggested ways to make the legislative activities of
the
National Assembly and government more productive, and emphasized the need to
strictly adhere to the 2004 schedule in reviewing draft legislation.

2) Turkish Official Looks to Improved Relations with Armenia

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Leading the Turkish delegation at a session of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Parliamentary Assembly that convened in
Yerevan on Wednesday, Salik Kapusoz of the Turkish ruling Justice and
Development party, said that the borders of Armenia and Turkey may open soon.
`The Justice and Development party has taken on the task to develop relations
with all neighbors of Turkey, and I hope that we shall soon see better times,’
he said, stressing that the opening of borders should serve as a solid
incentive to improve Turkish-Armenian relations. He also told reporters that
both nations should not cling to the past, and instead must look forward.
The BSEC Parliamentary Assembly body meeting in Yerevan is the Commission on
Culture, Education, and Social Issues. The head of Romania’s delegation and
Vice-chair of the commission Dumitru Buzatu, is presiding over the session
attended by parliamentary delegations from Turkey, Moldova, Bulgaria, Albania,
Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia. The Azeri delegation opted not to attend, citing
busy schedules. “I hope they will take part in future meetings held in
Armenia,” announced Buzatu.
The first sitting of the session took up the social, economic, and civil
rights of the disabled, with Russian representative Adam Tleuz addressing the
physical and social obstacles the disabled face.
Members of the session noted that in Armenia, rights of the disabled are
consistently violated, and that the country’s medical centers are far from
reaching international standards.
Paying special attention to the rights of disabled children and women,
participants urged BSEC governments and parliaments to advance their laws on
the disabled so that they correspond to international standards.

3) ANC San Gabriel Valley, Assemblymember Caldron Meet on ANC Activities

MONTBELLO–At the invitation of California Assemblymember Ronald S. Calderon
(D-58th Assembly District), Armenian National Committee (ANC) San Gabriel
Valley representatives held a work meeting with Calderon and his staff on
March
12, focusing on issues that concern the Armenian American constituents in the
district.
ANC representatives presented the local ANC’s activities in progress, which
include the addition of the Armenian Genocide in the Montebello School
District
curriculum; establishment of a sister city program between the city of
Montebello and Stepanakert, the capital of Mountainous Karabagh Republic; ANC
voter registration and voter outreach campaigns; and the upcoming April 23
vigil and April 24 rally at the Armenian Martyrs Monument in Montebello to
commemorate the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Calderon, who is a staunch supporter of Armenian issues, provided valuable
suggestions, promising his assistance for the success of the specified
programs.

4) ARF Reviews Faction’s Activities in Parliament

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–The legislative activities of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) were reviewed during a joint meeting on Wednesday between ARF
Armenia Supreme Body members and Parliament’s ARF faction members.
The ARF faction in Parliament has proposed six new pieces of legislation and
seven amendments to existing laws, with members co-sponsoring 25 legislative
initiatives proposed by others in parliament.
Details of visits to regions of Armenia by the faction members were also
reviewed.

5) Moscow’s Week of Parajanov

MOSCOW (Armenpress)–A week dedicated to commemorate what would have been
influential Armenian filmmaker Sergey Parajanov’s 80th birthday, and to
celebrate the great film director, artist, and sculptor’s art began in Moscow
on March 23 with an exhibit of items from the Parajanov Museum, including his
films, unique art collages, posters from his films, videos about his work, and
photographs by Yuri Mechitov.
Beauty as the highest value and truth as a creative principle were the most
important components of Parajanov’s art, which gave birth to a legend that
became known to the world as Parajanov’s film.
Born and raised in a traditional Armenian family in Tbilisi, Parajanov lived
his childhood very close to the tight Armenian community. These images of
childhood were later reflected in his work “Colors of Pomegranate.”
In 1945, with the end of the Second World War, Parajanov moved to Moscow and
enrolled in the Institute of Cinematography. In 1952, he moved to Kiev,
Ukraine, to start working at Dovzhenko studios. After a number of short films
and side projects, Parajanov finally started working on his first movie, “The
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors,” which turned out to be one of the greatest
masterpieces in the history of cinematography.
In a few years, Parajanov moved to his true homeland Armenia, and began to
work at the “Armenfilm” studio, where some of his short movies such as “Hakob
Hovnatyan” were born, and where he screened his biggest masterpiece: “Color of
Pomegranate.” Though the film’s cinematography won him international
notoriety,
the movie received no attention from the Soviet authorities. After forcefully
cutting 20 minutes out of the movie and re-releasing the short version for the
Soviet audience, Parajanov said: “My masterpiece no longer exists.”
It was the “Color of Pomegranate” that sparked the chain of events in his
life. Soviet censures did not particularly appreciate the numerous religious
images portrayed in the movie. Subsequently, a number of his screenplays were
rejected and he was later imprisoned under false charges–and sent to the
Gulag, one of the most abhorrent concentration camps in Russia.
He was released after a number of years as a result of global protests by
artists. Penniless, he moved back to Georgia in 1977, only to be imprisoned
again, but this time without a trial.
His work, “The Legend of the Souram Fortress” was completed in 1986; he began
work on “Ashik Kerib” the following year. Though both films became
world-renowned masterpieces, receiving a number of awards at movie festivals,
Parajanov did not get to see them. After undergoing treatment in France for
lung cancer, he passed away in 1989, in Yerevan.

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Los Angeles Times , CA
March 23 2004

Lessons of Medi-Cal’s Diaper Debacle

Slow-moving agency took years to close a loophole to fraud. And still
problems persisted.

By Tim Reiterman, Times Staff Writer

SACRAMENTO – Fraud drains billions of dollars from California’s
$29-billion health program for the poor, experts say, but few of the
thousands of products provided by Medi-Cal have been abused as much
or for as long as adult diapers.

In the late 1980s, Medi-Cal suffered a $200-million scandal known as
Diapergate.

In response, the Legislature ordered state health officials to adopt
strict monthly limits on the amount Medi-Cal would pay retailers to
supply diapers and other products to elderly and disabled
beneficiaries with incontinence.

But records show that Medi-Cal took more than nine years to fully put
those controls in place and to close a widely known loophole in its
computerized billing system that invited fraud.

The state’s spending on diapers for adults spiked again in the late
1990s as dishonest providers called “diaper bandits” stole tens of
millions of dollars more from the program. In some cases, Medi-Cal
was billed as much as $2,000 a month for a single patient.

The 1990s episode, state auditors found in December, amounted to a
clear failure by Medi-Cal officials to promptly correct a costly and
well-known fraud problem.

And as the state grapples with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit,
the recurring saga of out-of-control spending for an item as simple
as diapers for adults helps to illustrate why controlling spending
for healthcare remains such a challenge.

State health officials say they have worked long and hard over the
years to stamp out the fraud without unduly restricting access to
incontinence products that give patients comfort, security and skin
protection – or unduly hurting honest providers.

Medi-Cal tightened the screening of providers, imposed its first
usage limits and negotiated wholesale price levels with
manufacturers.

Officials say they are steadily bringing down spending on
incontinence products.

But they still can’t be certain, after two major outbreaks, that they
have stemmed the thievery.

Stan Rosenstein, who oversees Medi-Cal as the state health
department’s deputy director for medical care services, said the
trouble with fraud is that dishonest providers “are always testing
us.”

“They use their computers to test our computer system,” he said.

Growing Demand

The demand for incontinence supplies has grown as the number of aged
and disabled beneficiaries has increased. Medi-Cal has paid more than
$1.4 billion for such products since mid-1986.

Even so, officials saw two dramatic rises in spending for
incontinence supplies that they attributed largely to fraud and
misuse, not to caseload growth.

Figures compiled for The Times by Medi-Cal show that reimbursements
were $13 million in 1987 and roughly tripled in each of the next two
years, exceeding $130 million in 1989.

During a crackdown on providers, spending plunged to $58 million by
1991, but then began a steady climb that accelerated to more than
$107 million in 1997 and peaked at $143 million in 1999. The Medi-Cal
system relies, to a large degree, on the honesty of healthcare
providers who submit bills for products prescribed by doctors and
supplied to patients.

To file a claim, a retailer must first obtain a billing number from
Medi-Cal. And in the late 1980s, that was easy to get. People with no
experience in the healthcare industry, and no special license, set up
shop. There was no limit on how many diapers they could bill to
Medi-Cal, as long as they appeared to have doctors’ prescriptions.
And many took advantage.

As pharmacy investigations chief for Medi-Cal, Carlo Michelotti was
one of the first to begin chasing the “diaper bandits.”

“We identified $200 million in questionable payments,” said
Michelotti, now chief executive officer of the California Pharmacists
Assn. “So I put a band of merry men together.”

>From San Diego to the San Francisco Bay Area, Michelotti’s staff
helped track down unscrupulous diaper purveyors operating out of mail
drops, a liquor store, even a used tire shop with a junkyard dog out
front.

The first Diapergate investigations by federal and state authorities
yielded dozens of criminal convictions.

Spurred by lawmakers and the scandal, Medi-Cal in the early 1990s
established a $165 monthly limit on the cost of incontinence products
for each Medi-Cal patient, which industry sources say covers several
diapers a day plus pads or liners.

However, it was an open secret among providers that the Medi-Cal
computer system had a gaping flaw.

The computer would stop a retailer from billing over the limit, but
it would not prevent other retailers from collecting similar amounts
for the same patient.

“We complained to Medi-Cal for years about it,” said Bob Achermann,
executive director of the California Assn. of Medical Product
Suppliers. “The response was that it was a systems issue.”

Medi-Cal had identified a fix, but officials say they decided it
would put honest retailers at too much financial risk. Store
operators would have no way of knowing whether another supplier had
already used up a Medi-Cal patient’s monthly allotment and could get
stuck for the price of the diapers.

Medi-Cal did nothing to close the loophole. And by the mid-1990s, the
word was out in Los Angeles County, where experts say fraud is most
prevalent and where a disproportionate number of diapers has been
dispensed.

In 1997-98, there were more medical supply dealers “than 7-Elevens
and gas stations put together,” recalled Roubik Assatourian,
president of a medical products wholesaler, who agreed to cooperate
with the government and who has testified in numerous federal
prosecutions and before Congress. “It was one dealer opening and
telling his sister and cousin….

“The economy was good,” Assatourian said in an interview, “and there
was a surplus in the state budget, and the state was not really
paying attention.”

Some retailers plied beneficiaries with free groceries or gifts to
get their business. Some were swapping patient identification
information so they could bill Medi-Cal. Some had so many surplus
diapers, purchased at taxpayers’ expense, that they were unloading
them at swap meets.

The smartest operators realized that Medi-Cal had begun to inspect
invoices to see whether stores had purchased enough stock to support
their Medi-Cal billings. And that’s where Assatourian came in.

As president of Apical Corp., he provided bogus invoices to dozens of
retailers, making it appear that they had received the diapers that
they claimed to have provided to patients.

One of his customers was Khahik Simonyan, owner of Eagle Pharmacy and
a well-known member of the local Armenian community who helped
sponsor youth programs and shipped containers of diapers to aid
earthquake victims in Armenia.

Medi-Cal had paid Eagle about $1.45 million in 1997 through mid-1998,
most of it for incontinence supplies supposedly provided to about 700
patients.

Assatourian conceded that some of his invoices had inflated the
number of diapers delivered to Eagle. Other invoices falsely stated
that Eagle had received adult diapers when they instead had gotten
baby diapers, which are much in demand but are ineligible for
Medi-Cal repayment.

“Baby diapers were delivered, but adult diapers were billed,”
Assatourian testified after Simonyan was indicted in 2000 on federal
charges of stealing $627,000 from Medi-Cal.

Assatourian said he had supplied falsified invoices so he could
survive in a corrupt marketplace. “People … were opening up medical
supply stores with the full intent of committing fraud,” he said.
“These people were putting legitimate medical supply businesses out
of business.”

Simonyan was convicted, but authorities say he fled the country
before his sentencing in August 2002.

Within the ranks of Medi-Cal, internal reviews in 1999 and 2000 found
that spending on incontinence supplies was spiking by $5 million a
month, and that sometimes more than 10 different stores were billing
for diapers for the same beneficiary. Medi-Cal had a
$60-million-a-year problem on its hands.

“After I picked myself off the floor, we got together a group the
next day and started a multifaceted attack,” Rosenstein said. “It was
all bad news, and we took it on aggressively.”

Providers Eliminated

Hundreds of providers were eliminated or dropped when Medi-Cal
ordered them to reapply for eligibility. There was a moratorium on
new medical equipment providers, which continues today. Dozens of
bogus providers were prosecuted by federal and state authorities. And
Medi-Cal billings receded.

The solution to the computer loophole was described in a 2000 staff
analysis as a “simple change” costing $10,000. It essentially allowed
Medi-Cal to track the dollar amount of incontinence supplies that all
beneficiaries received, no matter how many stores they had used.

But before it was put in place, Medi-Cal officials spent three years
debating whether to try more complicated and costly options, such as
a “reservation system,” which would have allowed providers to find
out whether a beneficiary was entitled to more diapers or not.

The computer change was not completed until February 2003, a few
months after a Bureau of State Audits examination highlighted the
problem.

However, that computer change created the very difficulty that state
officials had tried to avoid.

“If I am a good provider and come in after someone over-billed, then
I would be excluded” from collecting, said Achermann, of the medical
suppliers association.

Rosenstein acknowledged the problem. “We do put providers at risk now
… to prevent fraud,” he said. “We decided that honest providers could
come back and get it approved after a denial.”

Medi-Cal officials contend that their adult diaper cost-cutting has
been highly effective. But people in the industry say businesses
still are circumventing the limits by billing the program for other
items when they reach the maximum for incontinence supplies.

They also say that some manufacturers and wholesalers are taking
shortcuts with diapers – using less of the substances that absorb
moisture – because Medi-Cal’s reimbursement rates have not changed
for years.

“The problem is that they made so many cuts that the person in
business has to look for the loopholes,” said Susan Patillo, owner of
We Care Corp. in Carpinteria, which makes skin care products and
sells diapers. “If they keep closing the loopholes, providers will
not be able to supply Medi-Cal patients.”

Medi-Cal officials say they have not received complaints from
beneficiaries about the availability of products, but that they
sometimes have encountered quality problems.

Sue Hodges, an Oakland activist who uses a wheelchair, said many
disabled people fear that providers would stop participating in the
program because they are not being paid enough.

“Take my example,” she said, “I have partial incontinence, and I use
disposable panty liners – big things … and I have a disposable pad on
my wheelchair.” Without them, she said, “I can’t leave home.”

ArmenPress
March 18 2004

NUMBER OF TB PATIENTS DOUBLES IN TEN YEARS

YEREVAN, MARCH 18, ARMENPRESS: According to the official figures
of the health ministry, the number of Armenians suffering from TB
have doubled in the last ten years and the mortality rate among them
has went up by 40 percent. More people of able age are getting
infected with TB, while the ratio of TB patients among 15-24 years
old is 30 percent.
Speaking on Wednesday at a meeting of an inter-body commission set
up to handle the problem, health minister Norayr Davidian expressed
hope that the commission will contribute heavily to struggle against
TB spread. The national program for fighting TB envisages a range of
preventive measures until 2006. According to experts, the main cause
of TB spread are heavy social-economic conditions and migration
processes.

PRESS RELEASE
Noah’s Landing, LLC
PO Box 22168, Cleveland, OH 44122 USA
CONTACT: Anita P. Kazarian
Phone: 216.932.8100
[email protected]

ARMENIA FORMING TEAMS TO COMPETE IN THE 2004 INTERNATIONAL CHILDRENS
GAMES

The 2004 International Children’s Games, a five-day celebration of
athletic competition and cultural festival taking place for the first
time in the United States this summer is looking forward to Armenia’s
participation.

In all, 3,000 children, aged 12-15, from around the world will compete
in International Olympic Committee endorsed games in Cleveland Ohio from
July 29 to August 2.

Coaches in Armenia are assembling the best athletes to compete in
tennis, table tennis, gymnastics, swimming, water polo, track & field,
soccer, baseball, volleyball and basketball. The opening ceremonies will
be held in the Cleveland Browns Football Stadium where it is hoped
Armenia will also be there to raise her flag along with other nations.

Dr. Sebouh Setrakian, of Cleveland Ohio, believes “it is of utmost
importance for Armenia to participate in these Games with qualified
competing athletes.” As a tireless contributor for Armenian cultural
preservation in NE Ohio, and a galvanizing force for this small
community, Dr. Setrakian said, “the children of Armenia cannot
participate and compete without the help of American Armenians.”

Anita Kazarian, of Noah’s Landing, arranged for donations to be
tax-deductible through a 501 (c) 3 organization. Checks made out to the
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, the organizing body for the Games,
should be mailed to PO Box 22168, Cleveland, OH 44122.

The youth of Cleveland joined forces to help make Armenia’s
participation a reality. Gregory Andonian of the Cleveland ACYOA and
Sosi Pounardjian, of the Cleveland ARS have calculated $2,000 will
sponsor one child. This will cover round-trip airfare from Armenia to
Cleveland, hotels, food, and visa for the one week.

The all-volunteer Armenia Task Force of the International Children’s
Games is asking you to donate any amount. Please mail checks to PO Box
22168, Cleveland, OH 44122. Anita Kazarian will answer any questions on
a special Hot Line 216.932.8100.

###

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
March 12 2004

CHESS TOURNAMENT IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH TO HAVE NO INTERNATIONAL STATUS
[March 12, 2004, 18:28:38]

Chess tournament taking place in Nagorno-Karabakh will have no
international status, president of chess federation of Azerbaijan
Aynur Sofiyeva told a press conference at the Ministry of Youth,
Sports and Tourism. In response to her protest-letter FIDE president
Kirsan Ilumjinov assured that FIDE would make all necessary actions
towards the tournament.

Following Kirsan Ilumjinov’s official address to the Armenian Chess
Federation on cancellation of the tournament in Khankendi, Armenian
Chess Academy and separatist leadership of so-called `Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic’ took the initiative to arrange the tournament. Aynur
Sofiyeva said that the Chess Federation of Azerbaijan sent letters to
the Federations of those countries whose players participate in the
tournament. Chess Federation of Georgia let its Azerbaijani
counterparts know that Georgian chess player will not be included into
the national team.

To make things clear, a sitting of the FIDE Council attended by
Kirsan Ilumjinov will be held in Baku in late March.

Although Armenian chess federation isolates itself from the
tournament, it is known that it had sent a congratulation letter to
the tournament participants, Aynur Sofiyeva added in conclusion.