Proposed budgets in Florida's House and Senate could mean significant Medicaid cuts for the state's hospitals, according to a WLRN report.
Here are six things to know.
1. Under the proposed House budget, Florida hospitals would see a 7 percent decrease in the Medicaid reimbursement rate, as well as a decrease in federal matching funds, according to the report. This equates to a potential $622 million loss overall. Additionally, the House budget would cut Medicaid supplemental payments to hospitals by $477 million, reports WLRN.
2. Under the proposed Senate budget, Florida hospitals would see Medicaid supplemental payments cut by $99 million, which equates to a total loss of $258 million when considering the added loss of federal matching funds, according to the report.
3. The proposed Senate budget includes Low Income Pool funding to help the state's safety-net hospitals, while the proposed House budget does not, according to the report.
4. LIP funding was eliminated under the Barack Obama administration to encourage Florida to opt for Medicaid expansion under the ACA, according to the WLRN report. Under President Donald Trump's administration, the state could see the return of $600 million in LIP, said Senate Appropriation Chairwoman Antiere Flores, R-Miami, according to the report.
5. In the report, House Appropriations Chairman Jason Brodeur commented on the proposed cuts, saying: "Nobody's payment rate could go above 5 percent or below 5 percent of what they got so it smoothes it out over time. What we don't want to have happen is implement a policy and then have either the bottom fall out or somebody get an enormous amount of money for no difference in effort."
6. But Bruce Rueben of the Florida Hospital Association said in the report if the proposed cuts take effect, Florida hospitals may be forced to provide fewer services or charge patients with private insurance more.
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