OTB still doling out health coverage despite warnings

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OTB Chairman Dennis Bassett and then president and CEO Henry Wojtaszek. Photo by Garrett Looker

In defiance of the state comptroller, the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. continues to provide gold-plated health insurance to its chairman and his wife, a dozen former board members and the widows of three others.

In some cases, the former board members enrolled in the health plan haven’t served on the OTB board in two decades.

Over the last three years, OTB spent an average of $149,000 annually providing the current and former board members with the insurance.

OTB’s largess doesn’t end with the board. 

Henry Wojtaszek, in his last year as president and CEO, rang up medical bills of $37,403 for himself and his family in 2024. By comparison, the costliest family policy sold by Highmark, the region’s largest health insurance provider, costs about $30,700 annually.

Wojtaszek is eligible to keep the OTB health plan for the rest of his life. Byron Brown, who started as CEO in October, was not enrolled in the health plan last year.

OTB self-insures, meaning it pays medical bills out of its revenues rather than by purchasing insurance.

The direct payments come out of revenue that would otherwise be available to disperse to state and local governments, as OTB is obligated to return its profits to those entities. The agency reduced those payments by $2.6 million last year due to rising costs.

In addition to OTB Chairman Dennis Bassett and his wife, former Chairman Richard Bianchi and former Erie County representative Francis Warthling are enrolled in the health plan. Also getting insurance are former Monroe County representative Eugene Mazzola who last served in 2003 and former Chairman Gregory Davis, of Erie County, who last served in 2005.

The insurance is among the best available in the region. In-network visits to doctors and specialists — including surgeries — cost no more than $25. X-rays, therapy and childbirth also cost just $25. Ambulance rides and emergency room visits are just $50. Under its pharmaceutical drug plan, generic medicines are just $5 while brand-name prescriptions run $25. 

While the cost to the insured is low, the cost to OTB is not. For example, documents obtained by Investigative Post show OTB spent $18,304 last year to supply Bassett and his wife with medical, vision and dental coverage.

OTB officials, however, refused to share a breakdown of costs for the 23 former board members and spouses, arguing that doing so would violate health privacy laws.

Comptroller's opinion ignored

OTB continues to provide the coverage as the state comptroller is set to conduct a broad financial audit of the agency. That probe begins later this month and could cover three to five years of finances, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office said last week.

In a statement to Investigative Post, spokesman Mark Johnson said the comptroller’s office has been clear about whether OTB can provide board members with health insurance: It can’t.

“WROTB received guidance from our office that the practice of providing health insurance to board members is impermissible,” Johnson said.

OTB board member Timothy Callan, who represents Erie County, agreed. He said he would pursue a resolution to end the coverage.

“I just don’t think directors should be getting health insurance, period,” he said.

OTB lawyer John Owens said the agency’s internal policies allow it to do so.

“The eligibility has been determined by our personnel policies for unrepresented employees which has been strictly applied,” Owens, a former Monroe County judge, said.

The continuation of health insurance also comes as OTB sends smaller checks to the Western New York cities and counties that own it. Required by law to share its profits with Buffalo, Rochester and 15 regional counties, OTB last year sent $2.6 million less back to those local governments.

A long-simmering controversy

Investigative Post first reported on OTB providing the health insurance in late 2018. Following that initial story, OTB hired lawyers at the firm Barclay Damon to review the matter. Those attorneys determined the agency should not, citing rulings by the state attorney general and comptroller.

OTB then hired attorney Ginger Schröder who came to the opposite conclusion: Providing the insurance was perfectly legal.

The board then voted in July 2021 that all current members could keep their insurance, but that benefits would not be provided to new board members.

In 2023, the state Legislature passed language sponsored by then-Sen. Tim Kennedy that fired the entire board, causing Buffalo, Rochester and the other 15 counties to appoint new representatives. Some board members kept their positions while others retired.

Bassett, reappointed by Rochester Mayor Malik Evans, kept his seat. He also kept his insurance, despite the shakeup. In November 2023, CEO Henry Wojtaszek told The Batavian that Bassett was grandfathered in.

“These individuals have qualified for a Medicare plan through Western Regional OTB due to their longevity prior to the board being terminated by state mandate,” Wojtaszek said at the time. “No one else on the board has any coverage.”

That explanation doesn’t sit well with the state comptroller or Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick, who said OTB policy is “a moot point  because they never should have had it in the first place.”

“What's done is done,” he said. “But going forward, I think there shouldn't be any more health care for board members or their or their dependents.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated.

J. Dale Shoemaker