Poor patients could lose access to hospital care if state cuts Medicaid, group says
These hospitals are called "safety-net" hospitals and their leaders are concerned because a major funding program for these hospitals is scheduled to expire on
Hospitals across the state pay an "assessment," or tax, based on their size, and this money is matched by the federal government. Then the money is redistributed to hospitals based on the number of Medicaid patients they serve.
In 2016, hospitals paid
"Without a renewed assessment program by
So far, layoffs at Touchette have not been discussed, according to
"We believe that the most recent modeling takes the right steps to ensure the services and operations for the safety nets will be maintained at current levels," McCulley said in a statement. "At this point we are just seeking to reinforce the importance and need to have the new assessment model account for the social, health and economic conditions that safety nets provide in their service areas."
McCulley said Touchette served almost 34,000 patients in 2016 and 21,000, or about 60 percent of them, were on Medicaid.
Safety-net hospitals, like Touchette, often serve a sizable volume of a "very vulnerable population," including people who need behavioral health services, McCulley said in his statement.
"Without us, the thousands of people we serve each year likely would not have access to critical quality health care," McCulley said.
State Rep.
"I'm sure that layoffs would happen and cuts in crucial ... services will happen," Greenwood said.
"They've been able to provide quality health care in our neighborhood so to lose that or to threaten to reduce the services that's offered to communities like ours, I think it would be devastating," she said. "I just think it's vital to keep that operating and get the funds that they need to stay in operation."
Touchette has 540 employees and has an estimated
The association urged lawmakers and Rauner to do the following:
-- Agree on a renewed hospital assessment that also includes a much-needed funding increase for safety-net hospitals.
-- Provide a "bridge" from the current assessment to the new one that covers the time it takes for the federal government to approve the new one.
-- If those two requests cannot be met, provide a safety net for the safety-net hospitals to prevent widespread layoffs and closures.
Hoffman said his agency has been meeting regularly with the
"
Hoffman said the
The
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