Louisiana Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein will outline the reasons behind his order cutting $550 million from Medicaid Thursday at a special joint session of the House Budget and Health Care Policy committees.
Greenstein said the reduction is a result of Louisiana receiving fewer federal dollars for the low-income medical insurance program in fiscal 2013.
The total impact of the reimbursement reduction could be $859 million, he said.
The funding to the string of public charity hospitals operated by the Louisiana State University System will be reduced by $329 million, Greenstein said. LSU officials will determine the specific cuts, he said.
The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget will meet Monday to hear testimony from Greenstein and Dr. Fred Cerise, vice president of health affairs and medical education at LSU.
Last week, Moody’s Investors Service said the reduction in federal funding is a credit negative for the state, and could require Louisiana to offset the loss of federal funds with service and spending cuts.
“The state is likely to assemble a mixed response, including offsetting with its own funds a portion of the federal funds reduction and reducing other spending,” Moody’s said. “These budget pressures would be compounded if there are any unexpected budget shortfalls, as there have been in the past two years.”
