PUBLIC HOSPITALS SUPPORT CONGRESSIONAL
ACTION TO SAVE AMERICA'S HEALTH SAFETY NET
~ Resolution Would
Reject Bush Administration's Policy of Slashing Billions
from Medicaid Funds ~
March 2008
Washington, D.C. - A bill
signed into law last May 25 included a one-year moratorium
preventing the Bush Administration from cutting nearly
$5 billion in Medicaid funding for safety net hospitals
across the country over the next five years.
In a blatant disregard for
this bill, the Bush Administration issued the final
regulations that same day, authorizing the cuts. The
Administration's actions have ignored Congress' clear
rejection of the cuts and undercut lawmakers' attempt
to protect hospitals from facing these cuts, allowing
Congress more time to consider these significant Medicaid
financing changes.
The Medicaid regulations explicitly
target public and teaching hospitals by:
-
Imposing sweeping funding cuts totaling hundreds
of millions of dollars that will force hospitals
to eliminate vital services for patients;
-
Eliminating Medicaid payments for teaching costs
in hospitals that train physicians across the country,
at a time when there is a national shortage of physicians;
and
-
Severely limiting how states finance Medicaid,
leading to significant shortfalls in state budgets
that will force states to cut services or impose
taxes to make up the losses.
Safety net hospitals must
now prepare for these cuts and make difficult decisions
about curtailing or eliminating vital patient services.
Without congressional action to extend the current moratorium,
these policies could go into effect May 25, 2008.
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