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State Representative Andrew Falk
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4228
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
NEWS COLUMN
PROPOSED BUDGET CUTS THREATEN RURAL HOSPITALS
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
We are now in the final stretch of the 2009 legislative session. Next week, we will vote on the larger omnibus bills that cover every aspect of the budget – education, health care, agriculture and veterans, and public safety, to name a few. Every bill has been carefully constructed, with each finance bill meeting the necessary targets to fit into the overall budget plan. After passage, the House bills will meet the Senate bills in Conference Committee; the final agreed-upon bill will then be sent to the Governor for his signature or veto.
As I have mentioned in the past, nearly every area of the budget is in line for cuts to help us address the $6.4 billion deficit. Perhaps the bill that has the greatest potential to change life for Minnesotans is the health care bill. Consider just the hospitals. All three budget proposals, the House, Senate and the Governor, propose cuts to hospitals. The House proposal is the least damaging in terms of dollars cut; we also make strategic cuts instead of broad stroke cuts, aimed at saving jobs and keeping services intact. The Governor proposes the highest level of cuts, and the Senate falls in the middle.
Our district is fortunate to have ten hospitals within its borders, a record high for the state. Each of these facilities provides both important health care services and some of the best jobs in the community. If the Governor’s budget is enacted, these hospitals would receive this level of cuts over the next two years:
Divine Providence Health Center in Ivanhoe $ 186,000
Graceville Health Center $ 347,000
Hendricks Community Hospital $ 363,000
Tyler Healthcare Center $ 398,000
Madison Hospital $ 533,000
Appleton Municipal Hospital $ 570,000
Johnson Memorial Health Services in Dawson $ 586,000
Sanford Canby Medical Center $ 639,000
Ortonville Area Health Services $ 848,000
Swift County – Benson Hospital $ 1,000,000
This includes indirect cuts, such as eliminating MinnesotaCare for over 100,000 adults, and direct cuts, including a 3% reduction in Medicaid payments, delaying payments, and eliminating Medicaid quarterly payments, among others. Cuts to our state Medical Assistance program are especially destructive because the hospitals will also lose the dollar-for-dollar federal match. When the federal match is included, these cuts range anywhere from 10 - 15% of the hospital’s gross revenue.
On top of these cuts, as growing numbers of Minnesotans lose their health insurance the amount of uncompensated care hospitals provide increases. Like it or not, these unpaid expenses need to be recouped somehow, leading medical facilities to raise their prices. In other words, all of us pay when our neighbors lose their health insurance.
A bigger impact on citizens, however, will be if the reliable and comprehensive health care we all depend on goes away. The cuts being proposed this year will close hospitals across the state, and cause others to eliminate programs and services. Imagine for a moment what life would be like if the hospital in your community closed, or even if they just cut services. Some of these choices could be a matter of life or death for many people, and at the very least, make health care for the rest of us more inconvenient and expensive.
We also need to consider what these cuts will do to our communities. These facilities provide between 40 and 200 local jobs that support our local economy and can bring people back to our rural part of the state to live. Job losses of this magnitude could change life in our part of the state forever. The bottom line is that this recession will end, and when it does, we need our critical health care institutions to be intact. Minnesota cannot afford to solve our budget deficit at the expense of patients, seniors, families and local health care providers. I know how important our rural hospitals are to our communities and I will continue to work to ensure that they remain viable.
Please feel free to call me if you have any questions about what is happening at the state legislature. I can be reached at 651-296-4228 or by email at rep.andrew.falk@house.mn. I look forward to hearing from you.
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