Steep Cuts Pushed for Hospitals; Trims From Medically Needy, Medicaid Spending plan OK'd by Fla. Senate trims from Medically Needy, Medicaid.

POLK FACILITIES WOULD LOSE $43.2 MIL.

LAKELAND FL | Polk County hospitals would lose just less than $43.2 million in Medicaid and Medically Needy payments, with Lakeland Regional Medical Center taking more than half of that hit, under the budget approved Thursday by the Florida Senate.

LRMC's loss in funding — from lower Medicaid payments, elimination of adult hospital services through the Medically Needy program and elimination of Medicaid for the Aged and Disabled – would be $23.7 million.

Winter Haven Hospital stands to lose $9.4 million; followed by $6.5 million for Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center, $2 million for Lake Wales Medical Center and $1.6 million for Bartow Regional Medical Center.

The Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida released that hospital-by-hospital analysis Thursday. Elimination of the medically needy and the aged-disabled Medicaid programs wouldn't occur until April 2012, but the figures are annualized to show a year's impact.

Both the Florida Senate and the Florida House are proposing cuts to deal with a multibillion-dollar state budget deficit, but the Senate's budget takes more from hospitals and from programs for people who need treatment for substance abuse and severe mental illnesses.

Officials at local hospitals are alarmed at the extent of the Senate cuts.

"That would drastically affect all hospitals' ability to care for the state's neediest," said Josh Putter, division director for Health Management Associates, which owns Heart of Florida and Bartow regionals.

"These proposed cuts are unprecedented and place a disproportionate burden on Florida's hospitals," said Elaine Thompson, president and chief executive officer of Lakeland Regional.

"Reductions of this magnitude will have a significant impact on the provision of services to the most vulnerable members of our population – our sick and elderly — as well as have a ripple effect on our economy as health care jobs will be lost."

Putter also mentioned the effect of reduced hospital income on the economy.

"It will definitely have a negative impact on the number of people we are able to hire," he said.

Scott Smith, chief executive officer at Lake Wales Medical Center, said hospitals will need to look for new ways to reduce expenses while continuing to serve their patients and communities.

"Hospital emergency departments will face increased pressures as they are often the safety net for service gaps in the larger community," he said.

Despite cuts, Thompson said, "the need for care and our obligation to provide it will not be reduced."

Statewide, cuts proposed by the Senate would eliminate $1.6 billion to hospitals, the alliance said.

"Hospitals are one of Florida's leading economic drivers," said Tony Carvalho, alliance president. "To force hospitals to carry a disproportionate amount of cuts is totally unrealistic."

The proposed House budget would cut hospitals by a more modest $297.7 million. The five Polk hospitals' combined loss under the proposed Florida House budget would be $6.8 million, which is $36.4 million less than the Senate budget would cut, according to the safety-net alliance.

Under the Senate proposal, some of its members would lose more than Lakeland Regional's $23.7 million.

For example, Jackson Health Systems in Miami faces $177.5 million in proposed cuts. Orlando Health would lose $75.6 million and Tampa General Hospital's loss is $62.5 million.

Hospitals' emergency departments also are likely to have a great influx of patients in mental health crises if Senate cuts to mental health and substance abuse programs statewide are in the final budget agreement reached by the House and Senate.

The Senate cuts would "dismantle local adult mental health and substance abuse treatment systems that have taken decades to develop, leaving in place only emergency crisis services," according to an email Thursday from Tri-County Human Services in Polk County.

The Senate proposal would take about $186 million from adulthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif mental health services, eliminating their capacity to serve more than 180,000 adults. Adult substance abuse treatment services will be cut $43 million, leaving 35,660 adults without access to services, said Adam O'Connor, Circuit 10 adult transformation specialist, using statistics from the Florida Council for Community Mental Health and the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association.

They said as many as 12,000 people in those treatment areas would lose their jobs if the Senate cuts took place.

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