Bill to Bail Out La. Medicaid Passes Senate

By MELINDA DESLATTE

Bill to bail out La. Medicaid passes Senate

Millions of dollars in planned cuts to Louisianas Medicaid spending, slated to take effect next month, could be halted if Congress wraps up its work this week on a deficit reduction bill that includes health-care relief aid.

The U.S. Senate passed the legislation Wednesday that includes $2 billion in Medicaid assistance for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, to help them recover from Hurricane Katrina. It would provide enough money to Louisiana to stop $200 million in health- care cuts that are planned to take effect Jan. 1 as a means of rebalancing Louisianas budget this year.

The number of free prescriptions available to Medicaid recipients each month wouldnt shrink. The state also could avoid reducing payments to doctors, hospitals and other providers of health care to the poor, elderly and disabled who rely on Medicaid.

By plugging federal money into health care, the aid package also likely would free up state money that might be used to reverse spending cuts state lawmakers made to other areas of state government to cope with a budget deficit caused by Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

The U.S. House, which already had approved the measure, must approve minor changes to the bill before it can be sent to President Bush for his signature. Passage is expected, but the question is of timing, whether the legislation will be approved before Congress goes home for the holidays.

We thought we had it done this morning. We still expect it to happen, but until it happens, nobodys totally comfortable, Fred Cerise, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, said Wednesday.

More than 990,000 people were enrolled in Louisianas more than $5 billion Medicaid program before the hurricanes. Since then, the rolls have grown because hurricane-caused job losses made more people eligible.

Cerise said most of the $2 billion in federal Medicaid aid likely would go to Louisiana, but he didnt have precise figures on how much Louisiana could receive.

Federal health officials would have discretion on what portion of the federal money each state receives, and the Medicaid assistance could extend beyond Louisianas current fiscal year that ends June 30, Cerise said.

States normally put up money for their Medicaid programs to draw down additional federal matching cash. Cerise said the federal legislation would cover both the state and federal share of costs for services to Louisiana evacuees who relied on Medicaid programs in other states and for Medicaid services in Louisiana given to individuals affected by the hurricane.

Cerise said DHH also would be able to pay small rural hospitals the remaining portion of their annual costs for care to the uninsured. The hospitals had only received 50 percent of those reimbursements so far because of the departments budget problems.

By federal money could allow the health department to turn its attention back to other matters such as the charity hospital system in New Orleans and the LSU medical school and other health training programs, which are struggling after Katrina flooded facilities and dislocated patients and students.

Together, the public hospital system run by LSU and the universitys Health Sciences Center estimate they need another $155 million to tide them over until the fiscal year ends.

Gov. Kathleen Blancos chief financial adviser, Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc, committed to delivering additional cash by months end to both, but he hasnt yet explained where he intends to get it.

LeBlanc wouldnt comment Wednesday on how any state money freed up by the federal assistance would be spent. Jim Baronet, a spokesman for LeBlanc, said there would be many entities competing for the money, including agencies asking for budget cuts to be undone.

The primary noise is going to come for cut restoration, Baronet said.