Massive Medicaid Cuts Will Impact All Floridians, Safety Net Hospital Leaders Warn

Massive Medicaid Cuts Will Impact All Floridians, Safety Net Hospital Leaders
Warn
Legislature targets health programs for the state's elderly, disabled, and
poor

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., April 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Florida
Legislature's plans to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicaid
programs for the elderly, disabled and poor will put lives at risk and will
negatively impact all Floridians, the leaders of Florida's safety net
hospitals warned today.
Besides jeopardizing the health of Florida's most vulnerable citizens, the
proposed cuts in state Medicaid spending will also wastefully forfeit as much
as $280 million in federal matching funds and will lead to higher health care
costs for all Floridians, the hospital leaders said.
As part of their effort to address the state's economic downturn, state
legislators want to slash as much as $1.2 billion in crucial health and human
services programs for the elderly, disabled, foster children and the poor.
That includes cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicaid programs
that Florida's neediest citizens depend on to survive.
"It's time for all Floridians to ask themselves: Is this really the way
you want your state to treat the most vulnerable people in your community?"
said Tony Carvalho, President of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida.
"And do you really think these drastic cuts won't impact you? The truth is,
all Floridians will feel the effects of these huge Medicaid cuts."
By eliminating or restricting crucial Medicaid programs, legislators may
be able to claim that they avoided raising taxes, tapping into trust funds, or
using the state's "rainy day" reserves to ease the state budget shortfall,
hospital leaders said. But in reality, all Floridians will bear the brunt of
the Legislature's cost shift.
Local communities will be forced to raise local taxes for indigent care.
More sick people will wind up in already overcrowded emergency rooms, forcing
hospitals to provide even more free care, and driving up health costs for
everyone else. Health premiums will rise, straining businesses and increasing
the ranks of the uninsured in Florida -- where already, one in every four
residents under 65 lacks coverage.
"Ironically, while the rest of the United States is debating ways to
ensure that all Americans have health coverage, our Florida Legislature is
heading in the opposite direction, reducing health coverage for our neediest
citizens and increasing the uncompensated care in our health system," Carvalho
said.
As part of the Medicaid cuts, legislators are targeting hospitals for huge
cuts -- especially the state's safety net hospitals. While the Safety Net
Hospital Alliance represents just 10 percent of all hospitals statewide, its
members -- the bedrock public, children's, and teaching hospitals -- provide
about 50 percent of all the Medicaid and charity care delivered in Florida.
Yet, state lawmakers are eyeing safety net hospitals to bear nearly half of
the total Medicaid cuts.
Including budget cuts already made last fall, the state Senate is
proposing about $637 million in total Medicaid cuts to hospitals -- including
$287 million from safety net hospitals. Meanwhile, the state House is
proposing $599 million in total hospital cuts -- $278 million would fall on
safety net hospitals.
Two vital state Medicaid programs are especially at risk -- the Medically
Needy program and the Medicaid Program for the Aged and Disabled.
Medically Needy is the only avenue for Florida's uninsured "working poor"
to qualify for healthcare if they've been hit by a life-threatening illness,
an organ transplant or a catastrophic injury. To qualify, a patient's income
-- after deducting their medical expenses -- must fall below 22 percent of
poverty guidelines, or just $2,160 in annual income for a single person.
Nearly 20,000 Floridians depend on this catastrophic care each year. But many
will lose their inpatient hospital or drug coverage if the Legislature moves
forward with plans to eliminate or restrict the adult Medically Needy program.
The Aged and Disabled program serves low-income residents who are 65 or
older, or are totally or permanently disabled. Many recipients receive
institutional care, hospice services, or home- and community-based services.
The state Senate wants to totally eliminate this program. If the Senate
succeeds, 24,000 elderly and disabled people whose annual incomes fall below
88 percent of poverty guidelines -- that's $9,152 a year -- will lose their
Medicaid coverage.
Additionally, legislators stand to forfeit $280 million in federal
matching funds if they carry out the state Medicaid cuts to hospitals. That's
because for every $1 the state cuts in state general revenue Medicaid funding,
it loses $1.27 in federal funding for Florida's Medicaid programs.
With House and Senate leaders set to begin budget negotiations, time is
running out for Florida's most at-risk citizens. Legislators have other
reasonable options to avoid decimating these programs, but average citizens
must speak out, safety net hospital leaders said.
"Safety net hospitals serve all patients, regardless of their ability to
pay," Carvalho said. "Yet even safety net hospitals can't continue to offer
the same level of services to our most vulnerable with budget cuts this large.
We know that local communities and average citizens care about the less
fortunate among them -- it's time for them to speak out."
SOURCE Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida

Tony Carvalho, President, Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida,
+1-850-201-2096, tony@snhaf.net