Cuts concern DHH official

• By MARSHA SHULER
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jul 15, 2008 - Page: 5A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The new state budget will prompt belt-tightening and potentially cuts in Louisiana’s health insurance program for the poor, elderly and uninsured, Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said Monday.

Gov. Bobby Jindal refused the addition of chiropractic services to the Medicaid program before he signed the $29.9 billion budget Monday after Levine said it would further aggravate the health care funding situation.

“Some time in the next few weeks I’m going to have to project a deficit in Medicaid on the basis it is not fully funded,” Levine said.

The state budget allocates $6.76 billion for the Medicaid program in the fiscal year that began July 1.

It is nearly $50 million short of the funds requested in Jindal’s original budget proposal, DHH Undersecretary Charles Castille said.

The shortfall is part of the $4.66 billion allocated to reimburse private providers such as physicians, nursing homes and hospitals, he said.

Levine said DHH’s financial analysts are reviewing the situation so he can, as required by law, present a report to the Legislature on the projected Medicaid shortfall and how the agency plans to address it.

“Once we do project the shortfall we want to quickly address it because the longer we wait the worse it gets,” said Levine. “Our commitment is to look at efficiencies in the program first instead of cutting provider (reimbursement) rates.”

“If we can’t do it through efficiencies, we may have to look at rate cuts,” Castille added.

Levine said the Legislature’s proposed addition of the chiropractic services would have made the situation worse.

DHH estimated that the new program would have cost an extra $27 million annually, Castille said.

No extra funding was provided to cover the Medicaid chiropractic expansion, Levine said. In addition, those providing chiropractic services would have been reimbursed at a higher rate than medical doctors, he said.

“It’s an excellent profession that provides an invaluable service,” said Levine. He said he would meet with officials of the Chiropractic Association.