House and Senate Budgets Don’t Bode Well for Health Care
Date: 21-03-2013
[MMA News Now, March 21, 2013] In their budgets released earlier this week, both the House and Senate proposed spending targets that would result in cutting more than $150 million from general fund spending on Health and Human Services (HHS).
They were by far the biggest cuts in both bodies’ budgets for the 2014-2015 biennium.
“We were shocked by what they proposed,” said Dave Renner, MMA’s director of state and federal legislation. “Both the House and Senate are recommending increasing revenue but cutting HHS funding. This funding is for programs that serve the disabled, the elderly and the poor.”
Lawmakers said they feel there are efficiencies to be found in the state’s health care programs. “The changing demographics of our state tell us that we must find a way through efficiencies, reforms and cuts to bend the cost curve in health care while doing everything we can to protect our seniors and Minnesotans with disabilities,” said House Majority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul). “This will not be an easy task, but balancing our state budget never is.”
“Sadly, the proposed cuts to HHS are nothing new,” Renner noted. “The HHS budget has been a frequent target for lawmakers. Between 2009 and 2012, the state cut more than $2 billion in HHS spending. We will have to convince House and Senate leaders that you can’t cut your way to a healthier Minnesota.”
In contrast, Gov. Mark Dayton recommended increasing HHS spending by slightly more than $200 million in his revised budget.
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Comments (1)
A.V. Anderson, M.D.
2 months ago
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Medical Dir.
If there are further reductions in payments to physicians, I will have to drop out of Medicare and Medicaid. The margins are so tight now that further reductions would be impossible to carry on seeing these patients
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