Leaders of Louisiana’s health department asked senators today to restore $26 million for public health programs next year or risk shuttering safety inspections, water monitoring programs and testing for possible disease outbreaks.
The Associated Press reports those programs were among a list of health needs outlined to the Senate Finance Committee, which is combing through the House version of the state’s $24.3 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and is trying to find ways to generate new money to plug gaps.
The House stripped the state financing for public health from the budget proposal and reshuffled it to other health care services. When combined with lost federal match money, the cut totals more than $41 million.
The move came after Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, complained about unresponsive bureaucracy in the Office of Public Health for business wastewater system permitting. Health officials told senators the reduction would shut down inspections for school cafeterias, day care facilities, restaurants and water systems; close the state’s public health lab; eliminate testing of public drinking systems for brain-eating amoeba; and decrease the state’s ability to respond to disasters and emergencies. About 461 jobs would be eliminated.
Health and Hospitals Secretary Kathy Kliebert pledged changes to the wastewater and drinking water programs, saying she was reworking oversight. But she added: “We feel very, very strongly of course that the way to address this is not through gutting the program.”
Senators seemed interested in restoring the money. Sen. Sherri Smith Buffington, R-Keithville, described the cuts as a “huge risk” to families and to the state.
Senators also received an updated shortfall calculation for the LSU hospital privatization deals today, and were told they need to come up with another $67 million in state financing for hospital managers or risk cutbacks to the hospitals that provide most of the charity care to Louisiana’s uninsured. The shortfall, combined with federal matching money, tops $177 million for next year.
