Louisiana Medicaid Services Could Be Cut Under FY 2009 State Budget, State Health Officials Say
July 20th, 2008 | by admin |
Louisiana’s $29.9 billion fiscal year 2009 budget, which Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) signed into law on Monday, could result in cuts to state health programs for low-income, elderly and uninsured state residents, state Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said on Monday, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports. The budget allocates $6.76 billion for Medicaid, nearly $50 million short of Jindal’s request, according to DHH Undersecretary Charles Castille. Castille said the shortfall is part of the $4.66 billion allocated to reimburse private health care providers.
Levine said, “Some time in the next few weeks, I’m going to have to project a deficit in Medicaid on the basis it is not fully funded.” By law, Levine is required to submit a report to the state Legislature on the projected Medicaid shortfall and how the agency plans to address it. Levine said, “Once we do project the shortfall, we want to quickly address it because the longer we wait, the worse it gets,” adding, “Our commitment is to look at efficiencies in the program first instead of cutting provider (reimbursement) rates.” However, Castille said, “If we can’t do it through efficiencies, we may have to look at rate cuts” (Shuler, Baton Rouge Advocate, 7/15).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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