More than two dozen organizations are calling on the Senate to reverse $237 million in unnecessary cuts to healthcare services ordered by the House of Representatives earlier this month.
In a joint letter to the members of the Senate Finance Committee, groups that represent healthcare providers, patients and ordinary citizens said the proposed cuts are unnecessary, as the House simply refused to spend money that is available in the budget.
Mitigating these cuts by pushing a full month of Medicaid claims into the 2018-19 fiscal year, as some have proposed, is not acceptable. This would only serve to worsen the state’s budget problem in a year when Louisiana already is facing a $1.3 billion fiscal cliff.
“The cuts to LDH in the House budget put the health of all Louisianans at risk, but especially the most vulnerable,” the letter reads. “Children with behavioral disorders, seniors receiving home health care, and pregnant mothers at risk of contracting the Zika virus are just a few examples of Louisianans who could suffer under the cuts.”
