LOUISIANA, USA — At a House Appropriations meeting Friday, Louisiana Secretary of Health Michael Harrington and his colleagues made suggestions for how to close a budget gap and what could be eliminated.
It included PACE, which is a program to assist seniors instead of going to a nursing home, Adult Day Healthcare Waivers, which also allows an alternative to nursing homes, and Pediatric Day Healthcare Facilities, which serve medically fragile children.
LDH was ordered by the governor to identify areas where it could cut back.
Secretary Harrington called it a tough decision to put these programs on the line, and right away, Representative Jason Hughes called it inhumane.
“This represents devastation. We’re talking about people’s lives, and when I look at this list, the people that are primarily impacted are children and seniors,” said Rep. Hughes.
Rep. Larry Bagley agreed, telling Secretary Harrington, “I can tell you I’m not going to vote for any of this. I’m going to fight as hard as I can, but I do know we have to eliminate something.”
He’s right. LDH is being asked to close a 340-million dollar gap in the nearly 20-billion-dollar budget. 91 percent of the LDH budget for 2025 is appropriated to Medicaid.
And because Medicaid largely serves seniors and children, any cuts will affect those groups.
There were no votes taken today, but the conversations will certainly continue.
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