Cooperating for better care.

News & Views

More cuts may be coming in Conn.

Share this:

barber

“The Barber,” by Edwin Lord Weeks.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel  Malloy cut $192 million in Medicaid funding for hospitals last month, “but the actual hit to hospitals could end up being 25 percent higher,” reports The Connecticut Mirror.

The paper says: “The state is holding back additional payments to hospitals that weren’t part of the cut, and a spokesman for the governor’s budget office said decisions about whether to pay them will be ‘based on whether we have enough money to keep the budget in balance.”’

“The funding at issue includes two pools of money. One, referred to as the Medicaid supplemental pool, gives back to hospitals money the industry pays the state in taxes, which lets the state collect federal matching funds.

The other  is an $11.1 million pool of money — $3.6 million in state funds, the rest in federal matching funds — for small, independent hospitals, which was slated to go to Bristol, Day Kimball, Griffin, Charlotte Hungerford and Johnson Memorial hospitals.’

Hospital officials have warned that Malloy’s cuts could lead to  more layoffs and service reductions.  And indeed, Stamf0rd Hospital  just announced that it’s laying off 20 employees and leaving 113 open positions unfilled.

The paper said that “The Malloy administration has pointed to hospital financial performance to suggest the industry remains highly profitable….” in making the cuts.

No sign yet that senior hospital executives will be taking pay cuts.

 

Contact Info

info@cmg625.com

(617) 230-4965

Wellesley, MA