Rick Scott's budget will devastate Florida hospitals.

[madfloridian]

Scott Plan Hammers Hospitals

Hospitals would take a $1.4 billion hit if the reduced Medicaid reimbursement proposed in Gov. Rick Scott's budget is passed, according to the association representing "safety net" hospitals that treat a lion's share of Florida's poor.

That would be almost three times the $500 million loss already expected from a Medicaid reimbursement cut Florida lawmakers imposed for the current fiscal year that started July 1, said Tony Carvalho, president of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida. Representatives of Polk County's two largest hospitals said their budgets would be devastated if the proposal goes through.

..."Lakeland Regional Medical Center would lose $31 million from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, almost four times the $8 million being lost for the same period in 2011-2012, said Evan Jones, senior vice president and chief financial officer for LRMC.

Winter Haven Hospital would lose an estimated $12 million to $13 million, said Dave MacDougall, its vice president and chief financial officer.

These hospitals treat those without insurance in the emergency room. Waits even for emergency patients can run 12 hours or longer.

Closer to Polk County, All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg would lose $38.9 million and Tampa General Hospital would lose $32.6 million. Shands Hospital in Gainesville would lose $51.8 million and Sarasota Memorial would lose $9 million.

Hospitals in South Florida will suffer equally if the plan passes.

Hospital groups: Southwest Florida hospitals would lose millions under Gov. Scott's proposed budget

Southwest Florida hospitals would lose millions of dollars in state funding under Gov. Rick Scott's budget, according to hospital groups resisting $1.85 billion in proposed cuts to Medicaid.

Under Scott's recommendation, which was announced this week, Lee Memorial Hospital would be out of $20.9 million, the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida reported.

For most other area hospitals, Scott's proposed budget would reduce how much they are reimbursed for services to low-income patients, sometimes cutting rates by more than half, according to the governor's office.

Scott has said health care providers should be forced to find efficiencies. Senate Republicans on Thursday credited the governor's experience running a hospital network in endorsing the plan.

At two Collier County hospitals "reimbursement rates for inpatient services would fall from $1,135 per day to $660 per day, the proposed flat rate for hospitals in its class. Attempts to reach an NCH spokesperson for comment were unsuccessful."

[greymattermom]

1. some will close

Hospitals can't operate in the red for long. They have all sorts of compliance issues to keep up to standard. Many of these hospitals will close if this happens.

[madfloridian]

4. You are right. Some will close. So many people will be hurt.

Here are some of the worst provisions in his bill:

"# Privatizing the state’s three mental health hospitals in Chattahoochee, Macclenny and Gainesville, savings also gained by eliminating the state workforce;

# Closing two prisons – a move Scott said was made easier by the state having 8,000 excess prison beds in the system;

# Saving close to $1 billion by limiting the state’s Medically Needy program to pregnant women and children, barring thousands of transplant patients and those with catastrophic illnesses from participating in the program;

# Cutting $1 billion from the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration, by imposing 5 percent cuts in state payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other health-care facilities, and eliminating annual cost of health care increases."

[Warpy]

2. I'll find their efficiencies

Tell Republicans to find treatment at for profit hospitals. The idiots who are at the bottom of the heap who vote for them because they're "social conservatives" will soon get a reality check about where their party is really at.

However, you know staffing will be cut far below safe levels, infections and other complications will skyrocket, deaths will increase, they'll lose accreditation, and county hospitals will shut their doors, leaving only the glitzy for profit places that don't treat anyone who doesn't have gold plated health insurance.

[lib2DaBone]

3. More proof as we spiral into a 3rd world country....

.. a place where even basic health care is unavailable. Just waiting for an outbreak of Malaria in South FLorida.