KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |LA State Medicaid faces cuts

LA State Medicaid faces cuts

By Nick Guillory - email | bio | Twitter

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has until Tuesday to make a decision on the Medicaid cuts in proposed House Bill 881.

The program could see triple digit cuts and several home healthcare providers in the Ark-La-Tex are worried for their patients.

The bill calls for more 230 million dollars in cuts to the program that refunds providers. They say it may be tougher to operate under even less funding than they already get now.

"Medicaid is already limited to how much they will fund home health for patients and patients who are on home health at this time," Cammi Jorio of Stat Home Health said.

She's talking about how hard it will be to continue to provide adequate services for her patients.

She knows all too well what less funding will mean.  "More hospitalizations, more in and out of the hospitals and more time with family having to help take care of these patients."

Not only will home health feel the effect if the bill is signed into law but, the Louisiana Ambulance Alliance said the bill reflects more than 7 percent reduction to ambulance providers and will mean the elimination of an estimated 110 jobs.

 "We have to do rule making and get federal approval which will take a little while to figure out specifically what the cuts are going to be but, home health did take the cut also," Under Secretary of Health and Hospitals Charles Castille said.

Castille said the Governor has a lot of options to weigh before he makes his decision. He also said the state program will have to see cuts because the next couple of years are going to be rough.

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