BUSH MEDICAID CUTS CHILDREN’S HOSPITALS
President Bush’s new proposed budget calls for massive Medicaid cuts. The trickle down to children’s hospitals will be dramatic, and have many of these specialty institutions wondering, where will the money come from? They say many services will need to be eliminated.
President Bush’s new proposed budget calls for massive Medicaid cuts which will affect child healthcare. The trickle down to children’s hospitals will be dramatic, and have many of these specialty institutions wondering, where will the money come from? They say many services will need to be eliminated.
Children’s hospitals are very dependent upon Medicaid funding, as many of their patients require federal assistance. Without the government dollars, there’s no question, cuts will be made, and even non-Medicaid patients will be affected.
“This is probably the most devastating thing that has happened to my husband and me. It was crushing,” says Laurie Hill. When her ten year old son Zach Hill was suddenly diagnosed with a brain tumor, Laurie knew she wanted him to be cared for at this major children’s hospital in Pittsburgh. “I’ve had so many people come in today that I can’t even remember their names that are trying to help him. It’s totally amazing.” But maybe, there will a few less folks caring for kids like Zach. Or maybe, there will be diminished emergency room services…Or fewer doctors to care for them.
No one knows—yet--what will be the final impact of the Medicaid cuts proposed in this year’s federal budget. They’re, relative to previous years, tremendous: 60 billion dollars over ten years. That’s almost thirty times more than the 2.2 billion in federal cuts that congress rejected in 2004.
Roger Oxendale, CEO of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh says he expects to lose more than eight million dollars in his budget as a result. “When you look at the absolute dollar figure that we are talking about of 8.2 million dollars, it is a huge impact to us. And if you think about and you try to translate that into a specific program, that covers probably just off the top of my head, that probably covers 6 to 10 programs that we provide, services that we provide here at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh,” says Oxendale.
Medicaid is the single largest provider of health care for children, in New York and elsewhere, insuring about one in 4 or 26 million children over all. In fact it is such a significant provider that the budget cuts will likely mean elimination for numerous services including those that provide care for all children not just Medicaid recipients.
“While it is easy for the average person on the street to look at this and say well this isn’t going to impact me or my children, the reality is a reduction of this magnitude has the ability to impact all of the kids and the services that they receive,” Oxendale states.
“We cannot get by with less than what we’re being paid now,” says Dr. Dennis Clements, the interim chief of pediatrics at Duke Children’s Hospital in North Carolina. He says duke will see about a nine million dollar loss. “The money has to come from somewhere. Something will have to go, none of which are acceptable.”
No one is talking in specifics. Some hospitals say that it may be a situation where a child who needs physical therapy five days a week, might only get it two days a week. Or, it might be that whole services will be cut, such as programs where teachers come into the hospital to provide lessons to hospitalized children. Different hospitals will deal with the problem differently.
Officials at children’s hospitals are quick to point out that even children with good insurance but who have long term diseases eventually get into the situation where the insurance runs out, and they are reliant on medical assistance. So this will affect many children.
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