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Louisiana Health Department Secretary Discusses Possible Cost-Saving Measures

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 22 Apr 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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Cutting the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals' operating budget by 5% next year could lead to reduced access to care for low-income and elderly residents and those with disabilities, DHH Secretary Alan Levine wrote in a letter to state House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services Chair Tom McVea (R), the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. Lawmakers say they are trying to develop measures that would reduce the state's operating expenses by about $250 million.

According to Levine, most of the agency's $8.5 billion budget is allocated to the Medicaid program, 30% of which is financed by the state with the remaining funds coming from the federal government. Levine wrote that reducing spending by $86 million could lead to a reduction of $302 million after accounting for lost federal matching funds (Moller, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 4/18).

Levine offered lawmakers several options to reduce spending, including:
Levine, who suggested several other possibilities, wrote, "Without knowing the Legislature's priorities as a starting point, these options are not recommendations, but rather examples of various programs the Legislature could choose to address and the potential impact of such reductions," he wrote (Millhollon, Baton Rouge Advocate, 4/18).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.




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