La. hospitals face fewer dollars for uninsured care

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s decision against expanding the state’s Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act, combined with a provision that shrinks uninsured care dollars, could leave Louisiana hospitals with far less money to care for those not covered by private insurance. Hospital leaders say the situation, still several years away, could leave some facilities teetering on the edge of closure and give them little way to recoup money they spend to care for the large number of uninsured patients in Louisiana. The law will cut federal dollars that states such as Louisiana use to care for large numbers of uninsured people, under the idea that those dollars will be less needed because more people would get insurance, particularly through Medicaid. The LSU-run public hospitals and tiny rural hospitals could be most at risk because they get the lion’s share of the uninsured care dollars in Louisiana. The dollars account for nearly half the budget of LSU’s health care services. But Louisiana Hospital Association leader John Matessino says the larger private and community hospitals also could face the spillover impact of getting higher numbers of uninsured patients without funding if other facilities shut down or limit services. “For some of those hospitals it’s the difference between being open and shutting down, there’s no question about it,” Matessino says. “I really worry about some of these little hospitals. They’re already struggling.” The Associated Press has the full story here.